Editing Muskingum River

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name              = Muskingum River
| native_name       = {{native name|sjw|Wakatamothiipi}}
| image             = Muskingum River Marietta.jpg
| image_caption     = The Muskingum River near its mouth in [[Marietta, Ohio]]
| source1_location  = [[Confluence]] of the [[Tuscarawas River|Tuscarawas]] and [[Walhonding River|Walhonding]] Rivers
| mouth_location    = [[Ohio River]] at [[Marietta, Ohio]]
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| length_mi = 111
| source1_elevation =
| mouth_elevation   = {{convert|582|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name= "USGS">U.S. Geological Survey. Marietta quadrangle, Ohio. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington, D.C.: USGS, 1994.</ref>
| discharge1_location= mouth
| discharge1_avg     = {{convert|9459.49|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} (''estimate'')<ref name=NHDPlus>{{Cite web|title=Watershed Report: Muskingum River|author=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency]]|url=https://watersgeo.epa.gov/watershedreport/?comid=15385463|access-date=2021-07-03|url-status=live|website=watersgeo.epa.gov|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703115540/https://watersgeo.epa.gov/watershedreport/?comid=15385463|archivedate= 2021-07-03}}</ref>
| basin_size_mi2 = 8,051
| basin_size_ref = <ref>{{cite web | title = Map of Ohio watersheds | url = http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/water/watersheds/Basins72PDI_40x40_OnScreen.gif | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070311012646/http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/water/watersheds/Basins72PDI_40x40_OnScreen.gif | archive-date = 2007-03-11 }}</ref>
}}
[[File:Muskingumrivermap.png|thumb|right|300px|Map of the Muskingum River watershed]]
[[File:Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|Aerial view of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio]]

The '''Muskingum River''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|s|k|ɪ|ŋ|(|ɡ|)|ə|m}} {{respell|mə|SKING|(g)əm}}; {{langx|sjw|Wakatamothiipi}})<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Shawnees Webpage
| work = Shawnee's Reservation
| access-date = April 26, 2013
| year = 1997
| url = http://reocities.com/SouthBeach/Cove/8286/speach.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130502054932/http://reocities.com/SouthBeach/Cove/8286/speach.html
| archive-date = May 2, 2013
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> is a tributary of the [[Ohio River]], approximately {{convert|111|mi|km}} long, in southeastern [[Ohio]] in the [[United States]]. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio.  Via the Ohio, it is part of the [[Mississippi River]] [[drainage basin|watershed]].  The river is navigable for much of its length through a series of locks and dams.

==Course==
The Muskingum is formed at [[Coshocton, Ohio|Coshocton]] in east-central Ohio by the [[confluence]] of the [[Walhonding River|Walhonding]] and [[Tuscarawas River|Tuscarawas]] rivers. It flows in a [[meander]]ing course southward past [[Conesville, Ohio|Conesville]] and [[Dresden, Ohio|Dresden]] to [[Zanesville, Ohio|Zanesville]], and then southeastward past [[South Zanesville, Ohio|South Zanesville]], [[Philo, Ohio|Philo]], [[Gaysport, Ohio|Gaysport]], [[Malta, Ohio|Malta]], [[McConnelsville, Ohio|McConnelsville]], [[Beverly, Ohio|Beverly]], [[Lowell, Ohio|Lowell]], [[Stockport, Ohio|Stockport]] and [[Devola, Ohio|Devola]]. It joins the Ohio at [[Marietta, Ohio|Marietta]].

Along its course the Muskingum collects [[Wills Creek (Ohio)|Wills Creek]] near Conesville; [[Wakatomika Creek]] at Dresden; the [[Licking River (Ohio)|Licking River]] at Zanesville; [[Moxahala Creek]] at South Zanesville; and Wolf Creek near Beverly.<ref>[[DeLorme]] (1991).  ''Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer''.  Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme.  {{ISBN|0-89933-233-1}}</ref>

==History==
The name ''Muskingum'' derives from the [[Shawnee language|Shawnee]] word ''mshkikwam'' 'swampy ground'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mahr |first1=August C. |year=1957 |title=Indian River and Place Names in Ohio |journal=Ohio History |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=137–158 |publisher=[[Ohio Historical Society]] |url=http://publications.ohiohistory.org/ohstemplate.cfm?action=detail&Page=0066144.html&StartPage=137&EndPage=158&volume=66&newtitle=Volume%2066%20Page%20137 |access-date=May 22, 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In [[Lenape language|Lenape]] ''Muskingum'' was taken to mean 'elk's eye' (''mus wəshkinkw'') by [[folk etymology]], as if < ''mus'' 'elk' <ref>{{cite web|title=mus|url=http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=5249|work=Lenape Talking Dictionary|access-date=May 22, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315214331/http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=5249|archive-date=2012-03-15}}</ref> + ''wəshkinkw'' 'its eye'.<ref>{{cite web|title=wëshkinkw|url=http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=11468|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201235623/http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=11468|archive-date=1 February 2016|work=Lenape Talking Dictionary|access-date=May 22, 2012}}</ref> Moravian missionary [[David Zeisberger]] wrote that the Muskingum River was called Elk's Eye "because of the numbers of elk that formerly fed on its banks, these animals being found there even at the present time [1779-1780]..."<ref>{{cite book |title=David Zeisberger's History of Northern American Indians |url=https://archive.org/details/zeisbergerhistnaind00zeisrich |author=David Zeisberger |page=[https://archive.org/details/zeisbergerhistnaind00zeisrich/page/44 44] |publisher=Press of F.J. Heer |year=1910}}</ref> Historically, it was also the name of a large [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]] town along the river.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

As part of an expedition to assert French dominance throughout the entire Ohio valley, on August 15, 1749, a leaden plate claiming the region for France was buried at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers by [[Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville|Pierre Joseph Céloron]].

Noted frontier [[explorer]] [[Christopher Gist]] reached the Big Sandy Creek tributary of the river on December 4, 1751. Traveling downriver, he recorded arriving on December 14 at the western Wyandot town of Muskingum, at present-day [[Coshocton, Ohio|Coshocton]].  There he remained for the following month.<ref>Darlington, ''Journal of Christopher Gist''</ref>

[[Marietta, Ohio|Marietta]] was founded in 1788 as the first permanent American settlement in the [[Northwest Territory]], at the mouth of the Muskingum River on the Ohio River.  The [[Big Bottom Massacre]] occurred along its banks in 1791.

[[Zanesville]] was settled by European Americans in 1799 at the site where [[Zane's Trace]] crossed the Muskingum at the mouth of the [[Licking River (Ohio)|Licking River]].  Later, the [[National Road|National (Cumberland) Road]] crossed the Muskingum at Zanesville.  In the mid-19th century the Muskingum was an important commercial shipping route, with [[dam]]s and [[canal lock|locks]] controlling the water level to allow boats to travel up and down the river. With the decrease in use of water-based transportation in Ohio by the 1920s, the locks fell into disrepair.

Since the 1960s, the locks have been repaired to enable pleasure craft to travel the entire navigable length of the river. The Muskingum waterway is one of the few remaining systems in the US to use hand-operated river locks. The navigation system has been designated a national [[Historic Civil Engineering Landmark]]. In 2006, it was designated "An Ohio Water Trail;" this designation provides for increased canoe access on the river.

Located north of the [[Mason–Dixon line]], from around 1812 to 1861 the Muskingum River was a major [[Underground Railroad]] route used by fugitive [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] escaping from the [[Southern United States|South]] on their journey north to [[Lake Erie]] and [[Canada]].

==Nonprofit organizations==
The Friends of the Lower Muskingum River is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit land trust based in [[Marietta, Ohio]], concerned with protection of the Muskingum River and adjacent lands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.muskingumriver.org/|title=Friends of Lower Muskingum River – Help us save our land, water, and wildlife in the Lower Muskingum by volunteering, donating, or offering land.}}</ref> The [[Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District]] is a quasi-governmental entity concerned with flood control on the river.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mwcd.org/|title=Muskingum Watershed: Ohio Lakes, Camping, and Water Conservation|first=Muskingum Watershed Conservancy|last=District|website=www.mwcd.org}}</ref>

==Variant names==
According to the [[Geographic Names Information System]], the Muskingum River has also been known as:
* Big Muskingum River
* Elk River
* Mouskindom River
* Mushkingum River
* Muskingham River
* Riviere Chiagnez

==See also==
* [[List of rivers of Ohio]]
* [[Muskingum River Power Plant]]
* [[Y-Bridge (Zanesville, Ohio)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071111083247/http://www.heronislandguides.com/books.asp?Title=Ohio A history-travel guide on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers]

{{coord|39|24|33|N|81|27|22|W|region:US-OH_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-frwiki|display=title}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Muskingum River| ]]
[[Category:Rivers of Ohio]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Ohio River]]
[[Category:Rivers of Coshocton County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Rivers of Morgan County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Rivers of Muskingum County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Rivers of Washington County, Ohio]]