The Marais des Cygnes River ( , ) is a principal

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Osage River The Osage River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The eighth-largest river i ...

, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 31, 2011 in eastern

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and western

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 ...

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 ...

. Via the Osage and

rivers, it is part of the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. The name means "

Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

of the

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

s" in French (presumably in reference to the

trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (''Cygnus buccinator'') is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 250 cm (6 ft 2 in to 8 ft 2 ...

which was historically common in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

). The river is notorious for

flash flooding A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

. It is referred to in the song "The River" by

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American Activism, activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the numbe ...

La Cygne, Kansas La Cygne (pronounced ) is a city in Linn County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Marais des Cygnes River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,050. The city is named after the Marais des Cygnes River which is ...

, in Linn County and

Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a portmanteau of two nearby streams, the Marais des Cygnes River (form ...

, in Miami County are gravely affected by its flooding.

Course

The Marais des Cygnes is formed about 1 mile north of Reading, Kansas, a city in northern Lyon County, by the confluence of Elm Creek and One Hundred Forty-Two Mile Creek, and flows generally east-southeastwardly through

Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

counties in Kansas, and

Bates Bates may refer to: Places * Bates, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Bates, Illinois. an unincorporated community in Sangamon County * Bates, Michigan, a community in Grand Traverse County * Bates, New York, a hamlet in the town of Elli ...

County in Missouri, past the Kansas towns of Melvern, Quenemo,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Osawatomie and La Cygne and through the

Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in Linn County, Kansas along the Marais des Cygnes River. The 7,500 acre (30 km2) Refuge was established in 1992 to protect one of the northwesternmost examples of bottomland hardw ...

. In Missouri, it joins the

Little Osage River The Little Osage River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Osage River in eastern Kansas and western Missouri in the United States. Via ...

at the boundary of Bates and Vernon counties to form the Osage River, west of Schell City. In Osage County, Kansas, a

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

causes the river to form Melvern Lake, which is the site of Eisenhower State Park.

Floods

The Marais des Cygnes River has a history of

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

. One of the first such floods that has been noted is the

Great Flood of 1844 The Great Flood of 1844 is the biggest flood ever recorded on the Missouri River and Upper Mississippi River, in North America, in terms of discharge. The adjusted economic impact was not as great as subsequent floods because of the small populatio ...

known as "Big Water" in Native American legend. Though no measurements were taken, it is estimated to have crested at . Some of the more notable floods after 1844 include the 1909 flood, cresting at ; the 1915 flood, cresting at ; the 1928 flood, cresting at ; the 1944 flood, cresting at ; the 1951 flood, cresting at ; and the 2007 flood, cresting at . Pictures of the Flood of 2007 in La Cygne, KS The

Great Flood of 1951 In mid-July 1951, heavy rains led to a great rise of water in the Kansas River, Missouri River, and other surrounding areas of the Central United States. Flooding occurred in the Kansas, Neosho, Marais Des Cygnes, and Verdigris river basins. ...

happened in June and July 1951, killing 28 people and causing over $935 million damage (in 1951 dollars). This flood also affected the

, Neosho, and

Verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ac ...

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

s. As a result of the 1951 flood, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

s and flood control systems on the Marais des Cygnes in the 1960s, including massive freestanding gated floodwalls in

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

. Main Street (Old

U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA superhighway, NAFTA ...

) in Ottawa has to be detoured or is simply closed down when the gates are shut.

Variant names

The

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

settled on "Marais des Cygnes River" as the name in 1971. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, the river has also been known as:

References

Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
*

DeLorme DeLorme is the producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company’s main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and receive text messages ...

(2003). ''Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . *

(2002). ''Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . {{authority control Rivers of Kansas Rivers of Missouri Rivers of Bates County, Missouri Rivers of Linn County, Kansas Rivers of Vernon County, Missouri Tributaries of the Missouri River Great Flood of 1951 Rivers of Franklin County, Kansas Rivers of Lyon County, Kansas Rivers of Miami County, Kansas Rivers of Osage County, Kansas

Course

Floods

Variant names

See also

References