Medicine Lodge River

Map of the Salt Fork Arkansas watershed showing the Medicine Lodge River

The Medicine Lodge River is a 130-mile-long (210 km)^[1] tributary of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma in the United States. Via the Salt Fork and Arkansas rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

The river rises in Kiowa County, Kansas and flows generally southeastwardly through Barber County in Kansas and Alfalfa County in Oklahoma, past the Kansas towns of Belvidere, Sun City and Medicine Lodge. It joins the Salt Fork of the Arkansas in Oklahoma, about 5 miles (8 km) north-northeast of Cherokee.

The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Medicine Lodge River" as the stream's name in 1968. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as "A-ya-dalda-pa River," "Medicine Lodge Creek" and "Medicine River."

History

The Medicine Lodge River got its name from a large hut built by the Kiowa indians, who believed the water from the river had healing properties if ingested or inhaled in a sauna type room.

See also

• List of Kansas rivers
• List of Oklahoma rivers
• Medicine Lodge, Kansas

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 31, 2011

• Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
• DeLorme (2003). Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-342-7.
• DeLorme (2003). Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-283-8.
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Medicine Lodge River