Saline River (Kansas)
Encyclopedia
The Saline River is a 397 miles (638.9 km) tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Smoky Hill River
Smoky Hill River
The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...

 in the central Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

 of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The entire length of the river lies in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. The river takes its name from the French translation of its Native
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 name Ne Miskua, referring to its salty content.

Geography

The Saline River originates in the High Plains
High Plains (United States)
The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains mostly in the Western United States, but also partly in the Midwest states of Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains...

 of northwestern Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. The south fork of the river rises near the Sherman County
Sherman County, Kansas
Sherman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 6,010...

-Thomas County
Thomas County, Kansas
Thomas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,900...

 line while its north fork rises in central Thomas County. The confluence of the two streams lies in Sheridan County
Sheridan County, Kansas
Sheridan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,556. Its county seat is Hoxie. The county was named in honor of Phillip H...

 roughly five miles northwest of Grinnell, Kansas
Grinnell, Kansas
Grinnell is a city in Gove County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 259.-Geography:Grinnell is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 329...

. From the source of its south fork, the Saline flows east for 397 miles through the Smoky Hills
Smoky Hills
The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the central United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a dissected plain covered by tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie...

 region of north-central Kansas and joins the Smoky Hill River
Smoky Hill River
The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...

 approximately 1 mile south of New Cambria, Kansas
New Cambria, Kansas
New Cambria is a city in Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 126. It is part of the Salina Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:New Cambria is located at...

 in Saline County
Saline County, Kansas
Saline County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 55,606...

. The Saline is sluggish and unnavigable with no major tributaries and has a riverbed
Riverbed
Riverbed may refer to:*Stream bed, the channel bottom of a stream or river or creek*Wadi, a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain*Riverbed Technology, an American technology company...

 of sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 and mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

.

The Saline River drains an area of 3,419 square miles (8,855 km2). The combined Smoky Hill-Saline Basin drains 12,229 square miles (31,673 km2). Via the Smoky Hill, Kansas
Kansas River
The Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...

, and Missouri
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

 Rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 watershed.

In Russell County
Russell County, Kansas
Russell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 6,970 for the 2010 census...

, the river is dammed to form Wilson Lake
Wilson Lake (Kansas)
Wilson Lake or Wilson Reservoir is a lake in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border of Russell County and Lincoln County. It is a reservoir formed by the 130 ft high Wilson Dam on Saline River. The dam was built in 1964 for flood control...

.

The course of the Saline River runs through these counties:
  • Thomas County, Kansas
    Thomas County, Kansas
    Thomas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,900...

  • Sheridan County, Kansas
    Sheridan County, Kansas
    Sheridan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,556. Its county seat is Hoxie. The county was named in honor of Phillip H...

  • Graham County, Kansas
    Graham County, Kansas
    Graham County is a county located in northwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,597. Its county seat and most populous city is Hill City...

  • Trego County, Kansas
    Trego County, Kansas
    Trego County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 3,001...

  • Ellis County, Kansas
    Ellis County, Kansas
    Ellis County is a county located in Northwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 28,452. Its county seat and most populous city is Hays...

  • Russell County, Kansas
    Russell County, Kansas
    Russell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 6,970 for the 2010 census...

  • Lincoln County, Kansas
    Lincoln County, Kansas
    Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 3,241...

  • Ottawa County, Kansas
    Ottawa County, Kansas
    Ottawa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 6,091. The largest city and county seat is Minneapolis...

  • Saline County, Kansas
    Saline County, Kansas
    Saline County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 55,606...


History

The first recorded reference to the Saline River was on October 18, 1724 by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 explorer Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont was a French explorer who documented his travels on the Missouri and Platte rivers in North America and made the first European maps of these areas. He wrote two accounts of his travels, which included descriptions of the Native American tribes he encountered...

 who reported finding a "small river where the water was briny." Bourgmont was on his way to negotiate a peace treaty with the Padouca (Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

) whose Grand Village was then located on the Saline's banks. Eight decades later, in 1806, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 expedition led by Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...

 crossed the river on its way to visit the Pawnee. By 1817, the river was known as the "Grand Saline."

The Pawnee and the Kansa
Kaw (tribe)
The Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...

, who used the area as hunting and trapping ground, claimed land along the Saline until the 1850s when American settlers began to arrive. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...

 of 1854 established Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....

, which included the entire length of the Saline River. By 1873, the U.S. government had forcibly removed the Kansa to a reservation in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 (now Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

).

In August 1867, Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 warriors massacred a party of railroad workers in Ellis County
Ellis County, Kansas
Ellis County is a county located in Northwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 28,452. Its county seat and most populous city is Hays...

, an incident which led to a battle between the Cheyenne and Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas....

s from Fort Hays
Fort Hays
Fort Hays was an important frontier outpost of the United States Army located in Hays, Kansas between 1865 and 1889. Fort Hays was the home of several well-known Indian wars regiments including the Seventh U.S. Cavalry, the Fifth U.S. Infantry, and the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, whose black troopers were...

 that became known as "The Battle of the Saline River."

The Saline River flooded periodically during the late 19th century with particularly destructive floods occurring in 1858, 1867, and 1903. In 1964, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the river in eastern Russell County
Russell County, Kansas
Russell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 6,970 for the 2010 census...

 for flood control, creating Wilson Lake
Wilson Lake (Kansas)
Wilson Lake or Wilson Reservoir is a lake in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border of Russell County and Lincoln County. It is a reservoir formed by the 130 ft high Wilson Dam on Saline River. The dam was built in 1964 for flood control...

.

See also

  • List of Kansas rivers
  • Smoky Hill River
    Smoky Hill River
    The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...

  • Smoky Hills
    Smoky Hills
    The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the central United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a dissected plain covered by tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie...

  • Wilson Lake (Kansas)
    Wilson Lake (Kansas)
    Wilson Lake or Wilson Reservoir is a lake in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border of Russell County and Lincoln County. It is a reservoir formed by the 130 ft high Wilson Dam on Saline River. The dam was built in 1964 for flood control...

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