One Hundred and Two River

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The One Hundred and Two River near Savannah, Missouri, in 2006
The One Hundred and Two River near Savannah, Missouri, in 2006
102 River west of Maryville, Missouri during May 2007 flood. The river itself is on the extreme right. Most of the water in the photo is from the flood.
102 River west of Maryville, Missouri during May 2007 flood. The river itself is on the extreme right. Most of the water in the photo is from the flood.
102 River after breaching dam at Maryville during May 2007 flood.
102 River after breaching dam at Maryville during May 2007 flood.

The One Hundred and Two River is a tributary of the Platte River of Missouri that along with its longest tributary is approximately 90 mi (145 km) long, in southwestern Iowa and northwestern Missouri in the United States.[1]

According to the Geographic Names Information System, it is also known as the Hundred and Two River.[2]

According to the National Atlas the river begins northwest of Hopkins, Missouri at the confluence of the East Fork One Hundred and Two River and the Middle Fork One Hundred and Two River. It is joined southwest of Hopkins by the West Fork One Hundred and Two River.

The three forks cross the western extension of the Sullivan Line (the Missouri-Iowa border) at between 101 and 102 miles north of the confluence of the Missouri River and Kansas River north of Kaw Point in Kansas City, Missouri which is the starting point for surveys in western Missouri.

The Sullivan Line begins exactly 100 miles north of the Kansas-Missouri confluence near Sheridan, Missouri. It was extended west in 1836 during the Platte Purchase when Native American territory was purchased by the federal government and annexed to Missouri. The Missouri portion of the 102 river is totally within the Platte Purchase area.

Contents

[edit] Origin of name

Through the years, writers have speculated on etymologies other than the Sullivan Line coordinates:

  • Author Homer Croy who chronicled life in Nodaway County speculated that it had something to do with Mormon Trail migration of 1847 in which the river was 102 miles from its previous camp[3]. These coordinates do not fit the coordinates for Mount Pisgah (Iowa) which is less than 100 miles from the river although they would be close in relation to the distance from Hopkins to Kanesville, Iowa which was the outfitting point for the Mormon Trail. Another version of this story says that Brigham Young told his followers that the river was the 102nd they had crossed since leaving Navoo.
  • Robert L. Ramsay who wrote etymologies for the names of many place names in Missouri speculated it was English translation for the earlier French name Rivière Cent Deux , this in turn being a corruption of the Osage Çondse, meaning 'Upland Forest'[4] (however the traditional area of Osage control was well south of the 102 River).

[edit] Headwaters and course

The East Fork of the One Hundred and Two River near Bedford, Iowa, in 1997
The East Fork of the One Hundred and Two River near Bedford, Iowa, in 1997

The three forks of the river rise in Iowa:[5]

  • The West Fork One Hundred and Two River[6] rises near Corning in Adams County and flows generally southwardly through Taylor County, collecting streams known as the West and Middle Branches[7][8] of the One Hundred and Two River.
  • The Middle Fork One Hundred and Two River[9] rises near Sharpsburg in Taylor County, and flows generally south-southwestardly, past the town of Gravity.
  • The East Fork One Hundred and Two River[10] rises near Lenox in Taylor County and flows generally southwestwardly, past the towns of Conway and Bedford.

Each of the forks enters Nodaway County, Missouri from Taylor County, Iowa, and converge near the town of Hopkins. From this confluence the One Hundred and Two River flows generally southwardly, through Nodaway, Andrew and Buchanan Counties, past the towns of Arkoe, Barnard, Maryville, and Rosendale, in a heavily channelized steambed.[11] It joins the Platte River 6 mi (9.7 km) west of St. Joseph.[1]

Via the Platte, it is part of the watershed of the Missouri River. Much of the river's course has been straightened and channelized.[5][11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry for One Hundred and Two River
  2. ^ USGS GNIS: One Hundred and Two River
  3. ^ [http://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA95&ots=SilmBjoSuA&dq=Arkoe+Talbot&sig=Q_OaDwvD3guzMv8QlhsWkvyPyHs#PPA9,M1 Our Storehouse of Missouri Placenames by Robert Lee Ramsey, 1973, p. 7
  4. ^ [http://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA95&ots=SilmBjoSuA&dq=Arkoe+Talbot&sig=Q_OaDwvD3guzMv8QlhsWkvyPyHs#PPA9,M1 Our Storehouse of Missouri Placenames by Robert Lee Ramsey, 1973, p. 9
  5. ^ a b DeLorme (1998). Iowa Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-214-5.
  6. ^ USGS GNIS: West Fork One Hundred and Two River
  7. ^ USGS GNIS: West Branch One Hundred and Two River
  8. ^ USGS GNIS: Middle Branch One Hundred and Two River
  9. ^ USGS GNIS: Middle Fork One Hundred and Two River
  10. ^ USGS GNIS: East Fork One Hundred and Two River
  11. ^ a b *DeLorme (2002). Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-353-2.
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