The Totagatic River (generally pronounced ''To-TA-ga-tik'') is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 5, 2012

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

Namekagon River The Namekagon River (pronounced ''NAM-uh-KAH-gun'') is a tributary of the St. Croix River. It is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 5, 2012 and is located in no ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. Via the Namekagon and

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

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 ...

. 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's name has also been historically spelled Togatatic and Totogatic. Its name is derived from the

Ojibwe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...

''Dootoogaatig-ziibi'' meaning "River of Boggy Riverway" (or literally, "River of spongy-ground river-course"), due to its course through

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. The Totagatic is formed by the confluence of its short east and west forks in southwestern Bayfield County, and flows generally westwardly through

Sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. *Sawyer, a fallen tree stuck on the bottom of a river, where it constitutes a danger to boating. Places in the United States Communities *Sawyer, Kansas *Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * Saw ...

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

and Burnett counties, passing through several lakes. It joins the Namekagon River in Burnett County, south of the city of

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

. In Douglas County, it receives the Ounce River.

References

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 ...

(1992). ''Wisconsin Atlas & Gazetteer''. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme. . *

External links

Wild River: Totagatic
Video produced by

Wisconsin Public Television PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a state network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It c ...

Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Bayfield County, Wisconsin Rivers of Burnett County, Wisconsin Rivers of Douglas County, Wisconsin Rivers of Sawyer County, Wisconsin Rivers of Washburn County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub

See also

References

External links