| St. Francis River | |
|---|---|
 The St. Francis River atLake City, Arkansas is placid and silt-laden. | |
 Map of the St. Francis River watershed. The Castor/Whitewater headwaters (darker shade on the map) were historically part of the St. Francis watershed but are now diverted to the Mississippi. | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri,Arkansas |
| Region | Ozark Plateau,Mississippi Alluvial Plain |
| District | St. Francois Mountains,Crowleys Ridge |
| Cities | Farmington, Missouri,Fisk, Missouri,Lake City, Arkansas,Marked Tree, Arkansas |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Elephant Rocks State Park |
| • location | Iron County,St. Francois Mountains,Ozark Plateau,Missouri |
| • elevation | 1,568 ft (478 m) |
| Mouth | Mississippi River |
• location | NearHelena-West Helena,Phillips County,Mississippi Alluvial Plain,Arkansas |
• coordinates | 34°37′28″N90°35′31″W / 34.62444°N 90.59194°W /34.62444; -90.59194[1] |
• elevation | 171 ft (52 m)[1] |
| Length | 426 mi (686 km) |
| Basin size | 7,550 sq mi (19,600 km2)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Latitude ofWittsburg |
| • average | 8,976 cu ft/s (254.2 m3/s)[3] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Little St. Francis River,12-Mile Creek,Blue Spring,Mingo Ditch,Little River |
| • right | Stouts Creek,Marble Creek,Big Creek,Otter Creek,L'Anguille River |
TheSt. Francis River is atributary of theMississippi River, about 426 miles (686 km) long,[4] in southeasternMissouri and northeasternArkansas in theUnited States. The river drains a mostly rural area and forms part of the Missouri-Arkansas state line along the western side of theMissouri Bootheel.
The river rises in a region ofgranite mountains inIron County, Missouri, and flows generally southwardly through theOzarks and theSt. Francois Mountains near Missouri's highest pointTaum Sauk. It forms the Missouri-Arkansas border in theBootheel and eventually exits the state at Missouri's lowest point in the "toe" at 241 feet (73 m) above sea level. It passes throughLake Wappapello, which is formed by adam constructed in 1941. Below the dam the rivermeanders through cane forests and willowwetlands or forestedswamp, transitioning from a clear stream into a slow andsilt-laden muddy river as it enters the flat lands of theMississippi embayment. In its lower course the river parallelsCrowleys Ridge and is part of a navigation and flood-control project that encompasses a network of diversion channels andditches along it and theCastor andLittle rivers. Below the mouth of the Little River inPoinsett County, Arkansas, the St. Francis isnavigable bybarge. It joins the Mississippi River inPhillips County, Arkansas, about 7 miles (11 km) north ofHelena.
Along its course in Missouri, the river flows through theMark Twain National Forest and pastSam A. Baker State Park and the towns ofFarmington,Greenville andFisk. In Arkansas it passes the towns ofSt. Francis,Lake City,Marked Tree andParkin, and continues through two additional namesakes of the river —St. Francis County, and St. Francis Township in northeastern Phillips County — ending its course adjoining theSt. Francis National Forest.
In addition to the Little River, tributaries of the St. Francis include theLittle St. Francis River, which joins it along its upper course in Missouri;Wolf Creek, which joins it in Missouri; theTyronza River, which joins it in Arkansas; and theL'Anguille River, which joins it just above its mouth.
The river became the home of Cherokee Indians who attacked a boat on the Tennessee River on June 11, 1794 known as the Muscle Shoals Massacre and had removed to the west.[5] The Spanish authorities allowed the Indian settlement to trade and the area flourished with a population greater than Arkansas Post.
The origin of the river's name is unclear. It might refer toSt. Francis of Assisi, the founder of theFranciscan order. None of the region's early explorers were Franciscans, however. One possibility is thatJacques Marquette, aJesuit, named the river when he explored its mouth in 1673. Before his voyage down the Mississippi Marquette had spent some time at the mission of St. François Xavier, named for the Jesuit missionaryFrancis Xavier. The spelling of the river's name shifted from "François" to "Francis" in the early 20th century. A number of place names in the region stem from the river's name, includingSt. Francois County and theSt. Francois Mountains.[6]
TheUnited States Board on Geographic Names settled on "St. Francis River" as the stream's name in 1899. According to theGeographic Names Information System, historical names for the river have included:
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