Iroquois River

Iroquois River
The Iroquois River in Newton County, Indiana.
Basin
Main source	NW of Rensselaer, Newton Township, Jasper County, Indiana 40°57′55″N 87°12′23″W / 40.9652778°N 87.2063889°W
Source elevation	705 feet (215 m)
River mouth	Kankakee, Illinois 41°04′27″N 87°48′59″W / 41.0741993°N 87.8164285°W
Mouth elevation	599 feet (183 m)
Size	2,091 sq mi (5,420 km^2)
Country	United States
Physiognomy
Length	103 miles (166 km)
GNIS ID	410927

The Iroquois River is a 103-mile-long (166 km)^[1] tributary of the Kankakee River in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States.^[2] It was named for the Iroquois people.^[3] Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

Course

The Iroquois River rises in Jasper County, Indiana, and flows generally west-southwestwardly through Newton County, Indiana, and Iroquois County, Illinois, where it turns northward and flows into Kankakee County, Illinois. It enters the Kankakee River from the south in Kankakee County, opposite the village of Aroma Park, about 4 miles (6 km) southwest of the city of Kankakee.

Along its course the Iroquois passes the town of Rensselaer, Brook, and Kentland in Indiana and the towns of Iroquois, Watseka and Sugar Island in Illinois.

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Iroquois River, or portions thereof, has also been known as:^[2]

• Borntrager Ditch
• Burns Ditch
• Irokois River
• Iroquois Ditch
• Pickamick River
• Pickamink Lateral
• Pickamink River
• Pinkamink River
• Swain Ditch
• Thompson Ditch

Towns and cities

• Rensselaer, Indiana
• Brook, Indiana
• Kentland, Indiana
• Iroquois, Illinois
• Watseka, Illinois
• Sugar Island, Illinois

See also

• Kankakee River
• List of Illinois rivers
• List of Indiana rivers

Sources

1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 13, 2011
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Iroquois River
3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 166.

• Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
• DeLorme (2003). Illinois Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-321-4.
• DeLorme (1998). Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-211-0.

Gallery

Junction of the Iroquois River (left) with the Kankakee River at Aroma Park, Illinois

Junction of the Iroquois River (left) with the Newton County Fair grounds in Kentland, Indiana By Andrew Spiker