The Saline River is a

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

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 13, 2011 in the

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The river drains a large section of southeast Illinois, with a drainage basin of . The major tributaries include the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork, all lying within the Saline Valley. The once meandering swampy river was important among Native Americans and early settlers as a source of salt from numerous

salt springs A brine spring or salt spring is a Brine, saltwater Spring (hydrology), spring. Brine springs are not necessarily associated with halite deposits in the immediate vicinity. They may occur at valley bottoms made of clay and gravel which became sogg ...

where it was commercially extracted in the early 19th century.

History

From 1807 to 1818, Illinois paid the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

$28,160.25 in revenue. During the same time, Ohio paid $240 and Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri paid nothing. One third of the State of Illinois revenue came from the salt industry coming from African American slaves working on the Saline River in 1818. The last concessionaire of the Saline Springs was John Crenshaw, then owner of what became known as the Old Slave House. During the late 18th century, the river had heavy barge traffic. It was navigable for

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

boats and

batteaux A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...

for inland from the mouth at the

. The farthest point west that could still accommodate flat boats and barges is the largest city on the river

Harrisburg, Illinois Harrisburg () is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, and southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Its 2020 population was 8,219, and the surrounding Harrisbur ...

, but the river has not been used for navigation in almost a century. It is today used mainly as an oversized drainage ditch of little interest except for flood control. Bidding for straightening and dredging began in 1930. On June 18, 1888, an act of January 25, 1849, declaring the Saline River to be navigable, was repealed by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

. The river was deemed "impractical" for navigation due to the "anxiousness" of County residents to build bridges across it.

Watershed

The main stem of the Saline River is long and drains . The river is formed by 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 South Fork and the Middle Fork east of

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

. The South Fork is long and rises in northern Johnson County within the Lake of Egypt reservoir. The Middle Fork is long and rises in southwestern Hamilton County. The North Fork of the Saline River is long and joins the main stem east of

Equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

, having risen in central Hamilton County southeast of McLeansboro. In 1995, stream quality was rated as "Fair" to "Good". Causes of pollution include inorganics, nutrients, siltation, organic enrichment (low dissolved oxygen) and other habitat alterations attributed to agricultural runoff, hydrologic/habitat modification and resource extraction. The North and Middle forks of the Saline River system have a degraded Indiana crayfish population due to threats to water quality from pollution, coal mining, oil extraction, siltation, stream channelization. and clearing. The Saline River watershed is located in

southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

and flows in an easterly direction encompassing over . The watershed covers land within

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

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 ...

, Williamson, Gallatin,

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, Hardin, and Saline Counties. The mainly agricultural landscape has many small streams, creeks, and man-made lakes that flow into the Saline River which eventually enters the

where it is wide. The Lake of Egypt, an impoundment on the upper end of the South Fork Saline River, is the largest lake in the watershed, and covers . Map of Saline River

The population of the watershed is mostly rural, but there are many small cities and villages found throughout the area then passes through the eastern section of the

Shawnee National Forest The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...

. The largest population centers are the cities of Harrisburg (pop. 9,628), Eldorado (pop. 4,416), McLeansboro (pop. 2,945), and Carrier Mills (pop. 1,886). Agriculture, mining, and manufacturing are the major components of the regional economy. The cities of

and

were built on

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

bluffs overlooking the Saline River Middle Fork Valley.

Cities and counties

The following cities and towns are drained by the Saline River: South Fork * Carrier Mills * Goreville * Lakeview * Stonefort * New Burnside Middle Fork *

Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

North Fork * McLeansboro *

Norris City Norris City is a village in White County, Illinois. The population was 1,275 at the 2010 census. History Norris City was incorporated in 1901. The original plat of Norris City was filed for record in the White County Courthouse in Carmi, Ill ...

The watershed includes all or part of the following counties: * Franklin County * Hardin County * Johnson County * Saline County * White County * Hamilton County * Williamson County * Gallatin County * Pope County

References

External links

Prairie Rivers NetworkSurfing the Saline River with USEPAReal Time USGS Stream FlowIllinois Department of Natural Resources Fact Sheet
* {{authority control Rivers of Illinois Tributaries of the Ohio River Bodies of water of Saline County, Illinois Bodies of water of Williamson County, Illinois

History

Watershed

Cities and counties

See also

References

External links