The Verdigris 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

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

in southeastern

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 northeastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

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 ...

. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 31, 2011 Via the Arkansas, it is part 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 ...

watershed.

Course

The Verdigris is formed near

Madison, Kansas Madison is a city in Greenwood County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 689. History Madison was founded in 1872 northwest of the present town. In 1879, the town was reloca ...

, by the convergence of two short headwaters streams, its North and South forks, and flows generally southward throughout its course. South of

Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's Southeast Kansas, southeastern region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, the river enters Oklahoma. It joins the Arkansas River near

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, about a mile upstream of the mouth of the

Neosho River The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National ...

. The area of convergence of the three rivers Arkansas, Verdigris and Neosho is called "Three Forks".

History

The river is mentioned in accounts by

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson th ...

(1806) and

Thomas Nuttall Thomas Nuttall (5 January 1786 – 10 September 1859) was an England, English botany, botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841. Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle, North Yorkshire, S ...

(1818). Fur traders had numerous posts along its route where they met with Native Americans to exchange goods for furs. The river is also mentioned in the novel ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

'' (1935) by

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...

, of her memories when her family moved to Kansas from Wisconsin. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica,'' the name may be derived from a greenish substance also called

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 ...

, resembling a

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ore, which tinged the water. In the U.S. treaty of 1834 with the

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 ...

Indians, the river was named as a part of the boundary of their lands in the Indian Territory. In 1994,

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

wrote and recorded a song: "Along the Verdigris", celebrating its rural tranquillity, on his album ''Wearing The Time''. In July 2007, Coffeyville Resources suffered flooding at its refinery at Coffeyville by the Verdigris River, causing a spill of about 1,700 barrels of crude oil.''Environmental News Service.'' "Raging Floodwaters Cause Kansas Refinery Oil Spill." July 3, 2007. Accessed September 4, 200

/ref> The company made efforts to ameliorate the damage. On May 25, 2019,

Rogers County Rogers County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included i ...

sent out a civil authority message to all radios In Washington County,

Tulsa County Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in Oklahoma, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the secon ...

, and other counties about the river rising rapidly.

Dams and transportation

Several

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 ...

s built by the

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

cause the Verdigris to form Toronto Lake near

Toronto, Kansas Toronto is a city in Woodson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 206. History Toronto was founded in 1869. It was named after the city of Toronto, Ontario. The name i ...

and

Oologah Lake Lake Oologah is a reservoir in northeastern Oklahoma. It is located near the towns of Oologah, Nowata, and Claremore. The lake has a surface of of water and of shoreline with 11 lake-side parks. The water storage capacity is rated as . The lake ...

near

Oologah, Oklahoma Oologah is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. Renowned humorist Will Rogers was born on a ranch two miles east of Oologah, although he usually claimed Claremore as his birthplace ''"because nobody but an Indian can pronounce 'Oolog ...

. More dams and

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s are downstream along the Arkansas River. From just north of

Catoosa, Oklahoma Catoosa is a city in Rogers and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 7,159 at the 2010 census compared to 5,449 at the 2000 census. This was a 31.2 percent increase during the decade.barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

traffic is supported on the river via the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System. This consists of a series of

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and dams on the Arkansas and the Verdigris rivers; this system enables commercial navigation between the

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, area and the

, and thence to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

Tributaries

In Kansas, the Verdigris collects the

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

at the town of Neodesha and the Elk River at the town of

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. In Oklahoma it collects the

Caney River The Caney River (Lenape: Kènii Sipu ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 river in southern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. The river is a tributary of ...

Cities and towns along the river

Altoona, Kansas Altoona is a city in Wilson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 354. History Altoona was originally called Geddesburg when it was founded in 1869. It was renamed Altoo ...

Benedict, Kansas Benedict is a city in Wilson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 69. History Benedict had its start in the year 1866 by the building of the railroad through that terri ...

Catoosa, Oklahoma Catoosa is a city in Rogers and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 7,159 at the 2010 census compared to 5,449 at the 2000 census. This was a 31.2 percent increase during the decade.Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's Southeast Kansas, southeastern region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence. History Independence w ...

Neodesha, Kansas Neodesha is a city in Wilson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,275. The name is derived from the Osage Indian word, ''Ni-o-sho-de'', and is translated as ''The-Water-Is-Smoky-With-Mud''. ...

Okay, Oklahoma Okay is a town along the east bank of the Verdigris River in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 620 at the 2010 census, a 3.9 percent increase over the figure of 597 recorded in 2000. Etymology and history Okay's histor ...

Talala, Oklahoma Talala is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 273 at the 2010 census. History The Talala Post Office was established June 23, 1890. Talala was named for Captain John Talala of the 3rd Regiment, Indian Home Guard ...

Nowata, Oklahoma Nowata (Lenape: ', ' ) is a city and county seat of Nowata County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,731 at the United States Census, 2010, a 6.0 percent decline from the figure of 3,971 recorded in 2000. The area where it was establi ...

Virgil, Kansas Virgil is a city in Greenwood County, Kansas, Greenwood County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 48. It is located approximately 8 miles east of the city of Hamilton, Kansas ...

Verdigris, Oklahoma Verdigris is an incorporated town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States, in the Tulsa metropolitan area. It straddles former U.S. Highway 66 (now State Highway 66) between Catoosa and Claremore. Verdigris had a population of 3,993 at the 2 ...

Gallery

File:Verdigris River Coffeyville Kansas.jpg, The Verdigris River at

File:USACE Newt Graham Lock and Dam.jpg, Newt Graham Lock and Dam on the Verdigris River in Wagoner County, Oklahoma

References

External links

* {{authority control Lowest points of U.S. states Rivers of Kansas Rivers of Oklahoma Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Montgomery County, Kansas Rivers of Greenwood County, Kansas Rivers of Wilson County, Kansas Rivers of Wagoner County, Oklahoma Rivers of Rogers County, Oklahoma Rivers of Woodson County, Kansas Rivers of Nowata County, Oklahoma