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Big Sandy River (Ohio River)
 
 
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The Big Sandy River is a tributary
Tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a Mainstem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water....
 of the Ohio River
Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
, approximately 28.79 mi (43 km) long, in western West Virginia
West Virginia

West Virginia is a U.S. state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast....
 and northeastern Kentucky
Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along its entire course. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
 watershed
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
.

It is formed between Louisa, Kentucky
Louisa, Kentucky

Louisa is a city in Lawrence County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,018 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the county seat of Lawrence County, Kentucky....
 and Fort Gay, West Virginia
Fort Gay, West Virginia

Fort Gay is a town in Wayne County, West Virginia, West Virginia, along the Tug Fork and Big Sandy River Rivers. The town adjoins Louisa, Kentucky....
 by the confluence
Confluence (geography)

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem , when that major river is also the highest Strahler Stream Order in the drainage basin....
 of the Tug Fork and Levisa Fork. It flows generally northwardly in a highly meander
Meander

A meander in general is a bend in a sinuosity watercourse, also known as an oxbow loop, or simply an oxbow. A meander is formed when the moving water in a river erodes the outer banks and widens its valley creating a meander....
ing course, between Lawrence
Lawrence County, Kentucky

Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 15,569. Its county seat is Louisa, Kentucky....
 and Boyd
Boyd County, Kentucky

Boyd County is located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1860. Its are found at the northeastern edge of the state the near the Ohio River and Big Sandy River, nestled in the verdant rolling hills of Appalachia....
 Counties in Kentucky and Wayne
Wayne County, West Virginia

Wayne County is the westernmost county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 42,903. Its county seat is Wayne, West Virginia....
 County in West Virginia.






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Encyclopedia


The Big Sandy River is a tributary
Tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a Mainstem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water....
 of the Ohio River
Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
, approximately 28.79 mi (43 km) long, in western West Virginia
West Virginia

West Virginia is a U.S. state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast....
 and northeastern Kentucky
Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along its entire course. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
 watershed
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
.

It is formed between Louisa, Kentucky
Louisa, Kentucky

Louisa is a city in Lawrence County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,018 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the county seat of Lawrence County, Kentucky....
 and Fort Gay, West Virginia
Fort Gay, West Virginia

Fort Gay is a town in Wayne County, West Virginia, West Virginia, along the Tug Fork and Big Sandy River Rivers. The town adjoins Louisa, Kentucky....
 by the confluence
Confluence (geography)

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem , when that major river is also the highest Strahler Stream Order in the drainage basin....
 of the Tug Fork and Levisa Fork. It flows generally northwardly in a highly meander
Meander

A meander in general is a bend in a sinuosity watercourse, also known as an oxbow loop, or simply an oxbow. A meander is formed when the moving water in a river erodes the outer banks and widens its valley creating a meander....
ing course, between Lawrence
Lawrence County, Kentucky

Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 15,569. Its county seat is Louisa, Kentucky....
 and Boyd
Boyd County, Kentucky

Boyd County is located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1860. Its are found at the northeastern edge of the state the near the Ohio River and Big Sandy River, nestled in the verdant rolling hills of Appalachia....
 Counties in Kentucky and Wayne
Wayne County, West Virginia

Wayne County is the westernmost county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 42,903. Its county seat is Wayne, West Virginia....
 County in West Virginia. It joins the Ohio between Catlettsburg, Kentucky
Catlettsburg, Kentucky

Catlettsburg is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States. It is the county seat of Boyd County. The city population was 1,960 at the 2000 United States Census....
 and Kenova, West Virginia
Kenova, West Virginia

Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, West Virginia, at the Confluence of the Ohio River and Big Sandy River Rivers. The population was 3,485 at the 2000 census....
, 8 mi (13 km) west of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia

Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia and Wayne County, West Virginia counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River....
, at the common boundary between West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio
Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
.

The river is navigable and carries commercial shipping, primarily coal
Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
 mined in the immediate region.

The name of the river comes from the presence of extensive sand bars. The Native American
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 names for the river included Tatteroa, Chatteroi, and Chatterwha which had similar meaning to the English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 name. It was known to the Lenape
Lenape

The Lenape are organized bands of Native Americans in the United States peoples with shared cultural and linguistic characteristics.These are the people who are living in what is now New Jersey and along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, the northern shore of Delaware, and the lower Hudson Valley and New York Harbor in New York, at the t...
 as Sikeacepe, meaning "Salt River", from the presence of salt lick
Salt lick

A salt lick is a salt deposit that animals regularly lick. In an ecosystem, salt/mineral licks often occur naturally, providing the sodium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and zinc required in the springtime for bone, muscle and other growth in deer and other wildlife, such as moose, elephants, cattle, woodchucks, domestic sheep, fox squirrels, mou...
s on the river (see: Licking River
Licking River (Kentucky)

The Licking River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 320 mi long in northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of the region of northeastern Kentucky between the watersheds of the Kentucky River to the west and the Big Sandy River to the east....
).

Two well-known Fiddle tunes take their name from the Big Sandy River: "Sandy River Belle" and the "Big Sandy River". Also Loretta Lynn's "Van Lear Rose" mentions the river

See also

  • List of Kentucky rivers
    List of Kentucky rivers

    List of rivers in Kentucky ....
  • List of West Virginia rivers
    List of West Virginia rivers

    This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of West Virginia.List of West Virginia rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams in the state....
  • Little Sandy River
    Little Sandy River (Kentucky)

    The Little Sandy River is a tributary of the Ohio River, about 90 mi long, in northeastern Kentucky in the United States. Via the Ohio, it is part of the Mississippi River drainage basin....


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