The Manitowish River is a river in

Vilas County Vilas County is a county in the state of Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,047. Its county seat is Eagle River. The county partly overlaps the reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippe ...

and Iron County in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its source is

Fishtrap Lake Fishtrap Lake is a reservoir in Pike County, Kentucky. Dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, the lake was formed by the impounding of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River at the 195-foot-high Fishtrap Dam () by the United States Arm ...

near Boulder Junction. The

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Manitowish River and the Bear River is the source of the north fork of the

Flambeau River The Flambeau River is a tributary of the Chippewa River in northern Wisconsin, United States. The Chippewa is in turn a tributary of the upper Mississippi River. The Flambeau drains an area of and descends from an elevation of approximately ...

. Historically the Manitowish River was an important part of an extensive network of canoe routes linked by short land portages, used by the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and fur traders. In modern times the river and the lakes it connects are popular recreational waterways. By some early accounts ''Manitowish'' is derived from a reference to the Ojibwe word for ''spirit'' or ''evil spirit.'' However the precise origin and meaning of the word is in some dispute.

References

External links

Rivers of Wisconsin Bodies of water of Vilas County, Wisconsin Rivers of Iron County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub