The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles (1,579 km) long and is located in the eastern United States.
The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. In the last five centuries prior to European contact, the Mississippian culture built numerous regional chiefdoms and major earthwork mounds in the Ohio Valley, such as Angel Mounds near Evansville, Indiana. For thousands of years, Native Americans, like the European explorers and settlers who followed them, used the river as a major transportation and trading route. About 1200 CE, the area of Kentucky was the site of longterm wars between the Osage and other Ohio River tribes, who ended up migrating west of the Mississippi River by the mid-17th century to historic grounds in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma; and the Iroquois, invading southwest from present-day New York.
After European-American settlement, the river served at times as a border between present-day Kentucky and Indian Territories. It was a primary transportation route during the westward expansion of the early U.S. The Ohio flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin encompasses 14 states. These include many of the states of the southeastern U.S. through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River.
During the nineteenth century, the river was the southern boundary of the Northwest Territory, thus serving as the border between free and slave territory. It is sometimes referred to as the "Mason-Dixon line". It is commonly acknowledged as the western natural extension of the original Mason-Dixon line that divided Pennsylvania and Delaware from Maryland and West Virginia (then a part of Virginia.) It was thus the unofficial and, at times disputed, border between the Northern United States and the American South or Upper South.
The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical climate and humid continental climate. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. In his Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1781-82, Thomas Jefferson stated: "The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth. Its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted."
Geography and hydrography
The river is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania marks the confluence. From Pittsburgh, it flows northwest through Allegheny and Beaver Counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia—Ohio—Pennsylvania triple-state line (near East Liverpool, Ohio, Chester, West Virginia, and Midland, Pennsylvania). From there, it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of Wheeling, West Virginia.
The river then follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of its length. It flows along the borders of West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, until it joins the Mississippi near the city of Cairo, Illinois.
Major tributaries of the river, indicated by the location of the mouths, include:
- Allegheny River — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Kinniconick Creek - Vanceburg, Kentucky
- Monongahela River — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Chartiers Creek - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Beaver River — Rochester, Pennsylvania
- Wheeling Creek — Wheeling, West Virginia
- Little Muskingum River — Ohio
- Duck Creek — Ohio
- Muskingum River — Marietta, Ohio
- Little Kanawha River — Parkersburg, West Virginia
- Hocking River — Hockingport, Ohio
- Kanawha River — Point Pleasant, West Virginia
- Guyandotte River — Huntington, West Virginia
- Big Sandy River — Kentucky-West Virginia border
- Little Sandy River - Greenup, Kentucky
- Scioto River — Portsmouth, Ohio
- Little Miami River — Cincinnati, Ohio
- Licking River — Newport-Covington, Kentucky
- Great Miami River — Ohio-Indiana border
- Salt River — West Point, Kentucky
- Kentucky River — Carrollton, Kentucky
- Green River — Kentucky
- Wabash River — Indiana-Illinois border
- Saline River — Illinois
- Cumberland River — Smithland, Kentucky
- Tennessee River — Paducah, Kentucky
- Cache River — Illinois
Drainage basin
The Ohio's drainage basin covers 189,422 square miles (490,603 km²), including the easternmost regions of the Mississippi Basin. States drained by the Ohio include:
- Illinois (the southeast quarter of the state),
- Indiana (all but the northern area of the state),
- Ohio (the southern half of the state),
- New York (a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny River),
- Pennsylvania (a corridor from the southwestern corner to north central border),
- Maryland (a small corridor along the Youghiogheny River on the state's western border),
- West Virginia (all but the eastern panhandle of the state),
- Kentucky (all but a small part in the extreme west of the state drained directly by the Mississippi River),
- Tennessee (all but a small part in the extreme west of the state drained directly by the Mississippi River and a small area in the southeastern corner of the state which is drained by the Conasauga River),
- Virginia (most of Southwest Virginia),
- North Carolina (the western quarter of the state),
- Georgia (the northwest corner of the state),
- Alabama (the northern portion of the state), and
- Mississippi (the northeast corner of the state).
Geology
From a geologic standpoint, the Ohio River is young. The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. The earliest Ice Ages occurred at this time and dammed portions of north-flowing rivers. The Teays River was the largest of these rivers. The modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed by glaciers and lakes.
Upper Ohio River
The upper Ohio River formed when one of the glacial lakes overflowed into a south-flowing tributary of the Teays River. Prior to that event, the north-flowing Steubenville River (no longer in existence) ended between New Martinsville and Paden City, West Virginia. Likewise, the south-flowing Marietta River (no longer in existence) ended between the present-day cities. The overflowing lake carved through the separating hill and connected the rivers.
The resulting floodwaters enlarged the small Marietta valley to a size more typical of a large river. The new large river subsequently drained glacial lakes and melting glaciers at the end of several Ice Ages. The valley grew with each major Ice Age.
Many small rivers were altered or abandoned after the upper Ohio River formed. Valleys of some abandoned rivers can still be seen on satellite and aerial images of the hills of Ohio and West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia. As testimony to the major changes that occurred, such valleys are found on hilltops.
Middle Ohio River
The middle Ohio River formed in a manner similar to formation of the upper Ohio River. A north-flowing river was temporarily dammed southwest of present-day Louisville, Kentucky, creating a large lake until the dam burst. A new route was carved to the Mississippi River. Eventually the upper and middle sections combined to form what is essentially the modern Ohio River.
History
Since it was considered by pre-Columbian inhabitants of eastern North America to be part of a single river continuing on through the lower Mississippi, it is perhaps an understatement to characterize the Ohio as a mere tributary of the Mississippi river. The river is 981 miles (1,579 km) long and carries the largest volume of water of any tributary of the Mississippi. The Indians and early explorers and settlers of the region often considered the Allegheny to be part of the Ohio. The forks (the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at what is now Pittsburgh) was considered a strategic military location.
In 1669 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition of French traders who became the first Europeans to see the river. He traveled from Canada and entered the headwaters of the Ohio, traveling as far as the Falls of Ohio before turning back. He returned to explore the river again in other expeditions. An Italian cartographer traveling
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