Crooked Creek is a stream in

Bollinger Bollinger () is a French Champagne house, a producer of sparkling wines from the Champagne region. They produce several labels of Champagne under the Bollinger name, including the vintage ''Vieilles Vignes Françaises, Grande Année'' and ''R.D. ...

and

Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

counties of southeast

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. It is a tributary to the

Headwater Diversion Channel The Headwater Diversion Channel is a canal in southeast Missouri. Flowing west to east, it diverts the headwaters of the Castor and Whitewater rivers and Crooked Creek directly into the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau. It was built bet ...

. The stream

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

arise in Bollinger County at the confluence of Henson Branch and Reagan Branch at and an elevation of approximately 790 feet. The stream flows south passing under

Missouri Route A A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in additi ...

one mile west of Tallent. It meanders southward passing the communities of Grisham, Bessville and Glenallen where it turns eastward paralleling Missouri Route 34 passing under

Missouri Route 51 Route 51 is a highway in southeastern Missouri. Its northern terminus is the Illinois state line near Chester, Illinois; its southern terminus is at the Arkansas state line northwest of Piggott, Arkansas. It continues into Illinois as Illinois ...

between Marble Hill and Lutesville. The stream flows past the community of Laflin, enters Cape Girardeau County and turns south as it passes the Lake Girardeau Conservation Area. It passes under Missouri Route U and enters the Diversion Channel two miles southwest of

Whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

at and an elevation of approximately 350 feet. The stream was named due to its crooked course. The stream originally was a tributary to the Whitewater River prior to the creation of the Diversion Channel. The name predates 1818 and

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

mentioned it in his journals.''Bollinger County Place Names, 1928-1945'', State Historical Society of Missouri
/ref>

References

Rivers of Bollinger County, Missouri Rivers of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Rivers of Missouri {{BollingerCountyMO-geo-stub