The Kiskiminetas River (commonly referred to as the Kiski by locals) 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 drai ...

of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then i ...

, approximately long, in Western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

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. The region stretching from the northern side of

Harmar Township, Pennsylvania Harmar Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,136 at the 2020 census. The township was named after Harmar Denny, a U.S. congressman and son of Ebenezer Denny. Geography According to t ...

to the Kiskiminetas towns is often referred to by the locals as the Alle-Kiski Valley after the rivers.

Course

The Kiskiminetas River is formed at Saltsburg, on the border between Westmoreland and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

counties, by the confluence of the

Conemaugh River The Conemaugh River is a long tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland, Indiana, and Cambria counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The name means 'Otter Creek', originating from the Unami-Lenape language word ''kwənəmuxkw' ...

and Loyalhanna Creek. It flows northwest in a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...

ing course past Avonmore,

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, Vandergrift, Hyde Park and Leechburg. It joins the Allegheny River near Freeport at Schenley, approximately northeast of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The Kiski-Conemaugh watershed includes much of the historic

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

-producing region of Western Pennsylvania. The water quality is considered degraded by numerous abandoned mine drainages in its upper reaches and tributaries, leading to on-going efforts by federal, state, and private agencies to improve the water quality of the river. The

Kittanning Path The Kittanning Path was a major east-west Native American trail that crossed the Allegheny Mountains barrier ridge connecting the Susquehanna River valleys in the center of Pennsylvania to the highlands of the Appalachian Plateau and thence to t ...

, a major trail in the region used by Native Americans and early

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an settlers, crossed the river at a ford near present-day Leechburg.

Political subdivisions

The course of the Kiskiminetas River traverses the following political subdivisions, named in order of encounter traveling downstream. * Saltsburg * Loyalhanna Township, Westmoreland County * Conemaugh Township, Indiana County * Kiskiminetas Township, Armstrong County * Bell Township, Westmoreland County *

* Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County * East Vandergrift * Vandergrift * Parks Township, Armstrong County * Leechburg * West Leechburg * Gilpin Township, Armstrong County

Tributaries

(Mouth at the Allegheny River) *Elder Run *Penn Run *Brady Run *Guffy Run *

Carnahan Run Carnahan Run is a tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Armstrong County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Course Carnahan Run joins the Kiskiminetas River in Parks Township. Cleanup The stream received cleanup as part of the River Sweep ...

*Pine Run *Beaver Run *Roaring Run **Rattling Run (also called Jackson's Run) *Flat Run *Wolford Run *Long Run *Sulphur Run *Blacklegs Creek **Big Run **Marshall Run **Harpers Run **Nesbit Run **Hooper Run **Whisky Run * Loyalhanna Creek *

Blacklegs Creek

Etymology

There is no definite interpretation of the origin of the name. It may come from a Native American phrase ''Kithanne'', meaning "Place of the largest stream." According to regional historians in the area, the name has historically had several other possible meanings, including: "river of the big fish" and "plenty of walnuts." Robert Walker Smith in his "History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania" (Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883) reported that John Heckewelder (a Moravian writer, explorer, and historian who wrote about the Lenape and other tribes in Western Pennsylvania in the 18th century) claimed that the name is "corrupted from Gieschgumanito, signifying, make daylight. In this case, the etymology is: Gisch-gu---day; gisch-que---today; gieschapen---it is daybreak; manitoon---to make. It was probably the word of command, given by a warrior to his comrades at night to break up camp and resume the journey, or war-path." Smith also described another possible meaning from another source: "It is said in McCullough's Narrative, that the Indians called this river Kee-ak-ksheman-nit-toos, signifying 'cut spirit'." Smith noted that he preferred Heckewelder's definition. It is also possible that "Kiskiminetas" means "clear, clean stream of many bends."

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations

{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Allegheny River Rivers of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Indiana County, Pennsylvania