Guyandotte River

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The Guyandotte River in West Logan in 2007

The Guyandotte River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern West Virginia in the United States. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau south of the Ohio between the watersheds of the Kanawha River to the northeast and Twelvepole Creek and the Big Sandy River to the southwest. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

Contents

[edit] Course

Guyandotte River watershed showing the Guyandotte and Mud rivers

The Guyandotte River is formed in southwestern Raleigh County by the confluence of three streams, Winding Gulf, Stonecoal Creek, and the Devils Fork.[1] and flows initially west-northwestwardly into Wyoming and Mingo counties. It turns briefly northward in Mingo County and enters Logan County, where it turns north-northwestwardly for the remainder of its highly meandering course through Logan, Lincoln and Cabell counties. It enters the Ohio River from the south at Huntington, about 5 mi (8 km) east of the city's downtown.

[edit] Dams

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam in Mingo County causes the river to widen as R.D. Bailey Lake in Mingo and western Wyoming Counties.

[edit] Tributaries

The Mud River joins the Guyandotte at Barboursville in Cabell County. The Slab Fork joins the Guyandotte in downtown Mullens in Wyoming County.

[edit] Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association

In Mullens, an active watershed organization is working to reduce pollution in the headwaters of the Guyandotte River. The Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association (UGWA) is a grassroots, community-based organization working to reduce sources of pollution in order to clean up streams and make the watershed a better place to live. UGWA has garnered much public support and produced results in partnering with numerous local, state, and federal agencies.

[edit] History

In January 1913, national news was made when the middle span of a Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) bridge over the Guyandotte River collapsed, and a train locomotive, engineer and bridge workers fell into the river. Engineer Shorty Webber and six bridge workers were killed. (The workers had been performing maintenance on the bridge.) Rescuers saved seven bridge workers from the river. Crowds of thousands of people lined the river as rescue efforts went on. Eventually the bodies of Webber and bridge workers J.W. Crawford, Charles Maddy (found 50 miles downstream near Portsmouth, Ohio), and Emmett Wood were recovered. It was not until June 1913 that the C&O company was able to salvage the locomotive from the river.[2]

[edit] Cities and towns along the Guyandotte River

[edit] Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the Guyandotte River has also been known as:

1912 postcard picture of river at Huntington, West Virginia
  • Arbuckles River
  • Big Laurel Fork
  • Guiandotte River
  • Guyan Dot River
  • Guyan Dott River
  • Guyan River
  • Guyandates Creek
  • Guyandot Creek
  • Guyandot River
  • Guyandott River
  • La-ke-we-ke-ton
  • Little Guiandot
  • Se-co-ne
  • Se-co-nee
  • Secone
  • Seconec

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Casto, James E. (2006). "Guyandotte River". in Ken Sullivan (ed.). The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Charleston, W.Va.: West Virginia Humanities Council. pp. 306. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5. 
  2. ^ Don Mills, "Guyandotte Disaster", Feb 2005, based on "Guyandotte Disaster", January 1, 1913", Cabell Record Archives, reprinted in Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society Magazine, May 1994, accessed 24 Aug 2009

[edit] External links

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