Macoupin Creek

Macoupin Creek is a tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near the village of Hardin, Illinois.

The word macoupin refers to the yellow pond lily [Citation
publication-date =2000
contribution =The Illinois Indians, Food Gathering
contribution-url =http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_gathering.html
title =MuseumLink Illinois
publisher =Illinois State Museum
url =http://www.museum.state.il.us] [Citation
publication-date =2000
contribution =The Illinois Indians, Archeology, Zimmerman Site
contribution-url =http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/arch_zim.html
title =MuseumLink Illinois
publisher =Illinois State Museum
url =http://www.museum.state.il.us] (Nuphar advena), a native plant of the regional wetlands, and a favorite food source of local Indians. It has a large rootstock (a tuber) that was baked in a fire pit. The spelling is derived from French attempts at documenting the pronunciation of the Indians, with "macoupin" being the modern form of the original French "macopine".

Macoupin Creek has been channelized near its junction with the Illinois River. A straight channel cuts through old oxbows on a direct path to the river. The old channel meanders through the Illinois bottoms for about five miles (8 kilometers) before joining the river, near the village of Hardin. The two channels thus form an island, called Macoupin Island, across the Illinois River from Hardin.

The old channel of Macoupin Creek forms the northwestern boundary between Greene and Jersey Counties. The actual boundary is ambiguous because of the shifting creek.

The creek is about seventy miles in length. The lower twenty-three miles of the creek runs in a narrow valley, usually less than a mile wide, between steep bluffs that rises up to convert|180|ft|m high. The bottom of the valley is mainly flat, and has little or no gradient in the downstream direction. The modern channel runs in a straight line, with little evidence of old oxbows. This portion of Macoupin Creek therefore appears to be a drainage ditch that was dug through a swamp or a marsh, that had no well-defined natural channel. This matches with old accounts that this area was a wetland, with natural lakes, and vast amounts of growing macoupin.

Mac Oupin is spelled separately because M - Man, A - Travels, C(G), Shallow water (marsh/river). Oupin - means corner. Corner of the marsh/river. Maybe there is some shared etymology going on.

Cities, Towns and Counties

The following cities, towns and villages are drained by Macoupin Creek:
*Carlinville
*Farmersville
*Girard
*Greenfield
*Kane
*Medora
*Palmyra
*Royal Lake
*Shipman

Parts of the following counties are in the Macoupin Creek watershed:
*Greene County
*Jersey County
*Montgomery County
*Macoupin County

Parks and Access Points

*Beaver Dam State Park

Lakes and Impoundments

*Bunn Lake
*Carlinville Lake
*New Gillespie Lake
*Otter Lake
*Sunset Lake

References

ee also

*List of Illinois rivers

External links

* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacoup/history/m_beaver.htm Beaver Dam State Park History]
* [http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/PARKS/R4/beaver.htm Department of Natural Resources, Beaver Dam State Park]
* [http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/Heritage/NativeAmericans/NativeAmericanInfluence.htm Illiniwik Food Sources]
* [http://www.prairierivers.org/ Prairie Rivers Network]
* [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?z=15&n=4339391&e=710595&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25 TopoQuest map of Mouth of Macoupin Creek]
* [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=05587000 USGS Stream Gage Macoupin Creek]