The St. Francis 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 drai ...

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 ...

, about long, in southeastern

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and northeastern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

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 territori ...

. The river drains a mostly rural area and forms part of the Missouri-Arkansas state line along the western side of the

Missouri Bootheel The Missouri Bootheel is a salient located in the southeasternmost part of the U.S. state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30′ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. ...

Description and course

The river rises in a region of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

mountains in

Iron County, Missouri Iron County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,537. The largest city and county seat is Ironton. Iron County was officially organized on February 17, 1857, an ...

, and flows generally southwardly through the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

and the St. Francois Mountains near Missouri's highest point

Taum Sauk Taum Sauk Mountain in the Saint Francois Mountains is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Missouri at 1,772 feet (540 m). The topography of Taum Sauk is that of an elongated ridge with a NNW-SSE orientation rather than a peak. Desc ...

. It forms the Missouri-Arkansas border in the Bootheel and eventually exits the state at Missouri's lowest point in the "toe" at above sea level. It passes through

Lake Wappapello Lake Wappapello is a reservoir on the St. Francis River, formed by Wappapello Dam (). Created in 1941, this lake is located south of St. Louis, Missouri. The reservoir lies mostly in Wayne County, but its southernmost reaches (near the dam) ...

, which is formed by a

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 ...

constructed in 1941. Below the dam the river

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 ba ...

s through cane forests and willow wetlands or forested swamp, transitioning from a clear stream into a slow and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

-laden muddy river as it enters the flat lands of the

Mississippi embayment The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflue ...

. In its lower course the river parallels Crowleys Ridge and is part of a navigation and flood-control project that encompasses a network of diversion channels and

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

es along it and the Castor and Little rivers. Below the mouth of the Little River in

Poinsett County, Arkansas Poinsett County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,583. The county seat is Harrisburg. Poinsett County is included in the Jonesboro–Paragould Combined Statistical Area. History ...

, the St. Francis is

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...

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 ...

. It joins the Mississippi River in

Phillips County, Arkansas Phillips County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Arkansas, in what is known as the Arkansas Delta along the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,568. The county seat is Helena–West ...

, about north of Helena. Along its course in Missouri, the river flows through the

Mark Twain National Forest Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) is a U.S. National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The MTNF covers of which is public owned, ...

and past Sam A. Baker State Park and the towns of

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

, Greenville and Fisk. In Arkansas it passes the towns of St. Francis, Lake City, Marked Tree and Parkin, and continues through two additional namesakes of the river — St. Francis County, and St. Francis Township in northeastern Phillips County — ending its course adjoining the St. Francis National Forest. In addition to the Little River, tributaries of the St. Francis include the Little St. Francis River, which joins it along its upper course in Missouri; the Tyronza River, which joins it in Arkansas; and the

L'Anguille River L'Anguille River (pronounced "lan-GWEEL" "LANG-gill" or locally as "LANE-GEE") is a tributary of the St. Francis River, approximately 110 mi (175 km) long, in northeastern Arkansas in the United States. Via the St. Francis River, it is ...

, which joins it just above its mouth.

History

The river became the home of Cherokee Indians who attacked a boat on the Tennessee River on June 11, 1794 known as the Muscle Shoals Massacre and had removed to the west. The Spanish authorities allowed the Indian settlement to trade and the area flourished with a population greater than Arkansas Post.

Names

The origin of the river's name is unclear. It might refer to

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

, the founder of the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

order. None of the region's early explorers were Franciscans, however. One possibility is that

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ign ...

, a Jesuit, named the river when he explored its mouth in 1673. Before his voyage down the Mississippi Marquette had spent some time at the mission of St. François Xavier, named for the Jesuit missionary

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

. The spelling of the river's name shifted from "François" to "Francis" in the early 20th century. A number of place names in the region stem from the river's name, including St. Francois County and the St. Francois Mountains.St. Francois County, Missouri Place Names
, Western Historical Manuscript Collection The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "St. Francis River" as the stream's name in 1899. 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 ...

, historical names for the river have included: Image:St. Francis River at Silver Mines Recreation Area 2.jpg, The St. Francis River rises in the granite mountains of the eastern

where it is a clear, rapid stream. File:Saint Francis River, USA 04-09.jpg, Silver Mine Dam on the upper St. Francis River

References

External links

Description and course

History

Names

See also

References

External links