The Medicine Lodge River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 31, 2011

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 drai ...

of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in southern

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 th ...

and northern Oklahoma 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 territori ...

. Via the Salt Fork and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

rivers, it is part of the watershed 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 fl ...

Name

The Medicine Lodge River got its name from a large hut built by the

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

Indians, who believed the water from the river had healing properties if ingested or inhaled in a

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

type room. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Medicine Lodge River" as the stream's name in 1968. 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 ...

, it has also been known historically as "A-ya-dalda-pa River," "Medicine Lodge Creek" and "Medicine River."

Geography

The river rises in

Kiowa County, Kansas Kiowa County (standard abbreviation: KW) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,460. The largest city and county seat is Greensburg. History 19th century In 1854, the Kansas Terr ...

and flows generally southeastwardly through Barber County in Kansas and Alfalfa County in Oklahoma, past the Kansas towns of Belvidere, Sun City and Medicine Lodge. It joins the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in Oklahoma, about north-northeast of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

References

Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
* DeLorme (2003). ''Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . * DeLorme (2003). ''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . {{authority control Rivers of Kansas Rivers of Oklahoma Rivers of Alfalfa County, Oklahoma Rivers of Barber County, Kansas Rivers of Kiowa County, Kansas Tributaries of the Arkansas River

Name

Geography

See also

References