The Sinsinawa River is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed May 13, 2011 tributary 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 ...
.
It rises in
Grant County, Wisconsin
Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,938. Its county seat is Lancaster. The county is named after the Grant River, in turn named after a fur trader who lived in the area ...
, with headwaters just outside
Cuba City, flowing southwards into
Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena.
Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near ...
, joining the Mississippi a few miles west of
Galena.
The river is part of the
Driftless Area
The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois.
Never covered by ice during the las ...
of Illinois and Wisconsin. This region remained ice free during the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
, contributing to the rugged appearance of the river canyon.
The name "Sinsinawa" is associated with
Sinsinawa Mound in
Grant County, Wisconsin
Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,938. Its county seat is Lancaster. The county is named after the Grant River, in turn named after a fur trader who lived in the area ...
. One version holds that "Sinsinawa" derives from an
Algonquian word (possibly
Potawatomi,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
or
Menominee language
Menominee , also spelled Menomini (In Menominee Language: omǣqnomenēweqnæsewen) is an endangered Algonquian language spoken by the historic Menominee people of what is now northern Wisconsin in the United States. The federally recognized trib ...
) for "rattlesnake" to describe the
Sioux. Another version says "home of the young eagle".
See also
*
List of Illinois rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Illinois:
By drainage basin
Gulf of Mexico
*Mississippi River
** Ohio River
*** Lusk Creek
*** Saline River
***Wabash River
**** Little Wabash River
***** Skillet Fork
***** Elm River
***** Fox River
...
*
List of Wisconsin rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Great Lakes Drainage
Lake Michigan
*Menominee River
* ...
References
External links
Prairie Rivers NetworkUSGS Real-Time Stream Gage, Sinsinawa River
Rivers of Illinois
Rivers of Wisconsin
Tributaries of the Mississippi River
Rivers of Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Rivers of Grant County, Wisconsin
Driftless Area
{{Illinois-river-stub
fr:Liste des fleuves de l'Illinois
nl:Lijst van rivieren in Illinois