Ipswich River
Ipswich River is a small river in northeastern Massachusetts, United States. It held significant importance in early colonial migrations inland from the ocean port of Ipswich; the river provided safe harborage at offshore Plum Island Sound to early Massachusetts subsistence farmers, who were fishermen. A part of the river forms town boundaries and divides Essex County, Massachusetts on the coast from the more inland Middlesex County, it is 35 miles long, its watershed is 155 square miles, with an estimated population in the area of 160,000 people. The settlement of Essex County began at the oldest community there, the tiny seaport of Agawam, proceeded westward and northward along the Ipswich or its tributary creeks; when Middlesex County was formed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, only Salem and Charlestown across the Charles River mouth and Boston harbor's inner estuary from Boston's much smaller hill dominated peninsula were older settlements. The upper river runs through and drains at least parts of Burlington, the lower river forms part of the borders between the towns: of North Reading and the town of Lynnfield of Middleton and the city of Peabody of Middleton and the town of Danvers, the town of Boxford and the Town of Topsfield.
The wide swamps along the river made it impossible to ford the stream anywhere east of Wilmington in colonial times. The only route north out of Boston to the northeast was via the Andover Road, an muddy track made a wagon road which forded the stream just below the confluence of Lubbers and Maple Meadow brooks; the topography of eastern Massachusetts was determined most by the fact that, at the maximum glaciation of the Pleistocene Era, it was the site of the edge of the last glaciation, at 18,000 BC. This glacier had planed the land under it nearly flat. Gravel- and boulder-lined streams ran along its surface. From 18,000 to about 10,000 BC, the glacier receded, dropping its stony contents as eskers and moraines, the dominant features of the region; the glacier's recession created ridges, deposited sand and gravel, the dominant material of the riverbed, over which mud has been deposited. Low-gradient drainage created the meandering streams, which drop no more than 30–40 feet; the first written record about the Ipswich River is from 1638 when John Winthrop bought from Chief Masconomet and the Agawam tribe the lands along the river and exclusive fishing rights for 20 pounds sterling.
Most of the land along the river is owned but in certain recreational areas non-motorized boats and swimming are allowed. It is attractive to birders. In the swampy and wetland areas a wide variety of birds and smaller wildlife species can be seen. Drinking water for many communities is provided from Ipswich River, it is estimated that source of public drinking water for 350,000 people comes from the river's watershed although most of these people live outside the area. There are some concerns about the quality of the water as the river dries up and some places become a dumping ground for tires; the river begins in the northeastern part of Burlington in northcentral Middlesex County Massachusetts and heading southeasterly, it passes through the towns of Wilmington, thence to North Reading, where it is joined by the left bank tributary Skug River — which originates in North Andover and Andover southwest of Boston Hill in a large Beaver Pond and marshland, situated north of Gray Road-jct.-Gray Street where it crosses via culvert south of Rt.
MA 125 and west of Rt. MA 114, thence, about a mile south, gains volume draining all of Harold Parker State Forest in the tri-town corner of Andover, North Andover, Middleton — excepting the few acres draining to Ipswich tributary, Boston Brook along the other side of MA 114. Both tributary creeks enter and mingle with the Ipswich proper in Middleton, proceed south into northern Peabody loop northwards through the municipalities of Danvers, Topsfield (crossing US Route 1 just south of the Topsfield Fairground, entering from the west turns northerly and runs the greater length of Teal Pond southwest to north, the east bank of which forms a part of the western border of Hamilton, exits the lake turning easterly staying south of Ipswich Road to head through and between the Willowdale State Forest and Bradley Palmer State Park opens a gap from Ipswich road diverging southeasterly from the road and the south edge of the Turner Hill Golf Club to turn north and form the west border of the Julia Bird Reservation thence meanders north through settled Ipswich neighborhoods and directly through town center passing under MA 133 where it begins widening until a mile beyond main Street it passes Nichols Field and the salt marsh floodplain begins.
From Nichols it traverses a bit over 2.5 miles joins with Plum Island Sound in connecting with the Atlantic Ocean at Ipswich Bay. There is always some flow from the river into the bay. However, the lower Ipswich and Plum Island Sound, as well as the lower four other rivers flowing into it, the much larger Merrimack River to the north, are all tidal estuaries, so the water is brackish from mixing ocean born saltwater inland during flood tides, the lands along the banks, where not inundated some of the time, are nonetheless saturated by brackish water and support only hearty plants capable of tolerating the waters such as salt marsh hay. High tides cover all of Great Marsh and the flood plains of the lower river
Indian River (Manistique River tributary)
Indian River is a 59.1-mile-long tributary of the Manistique River on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. It rises out of Hovey Lake at 46°17′36″N 86°42′20″W on Hiawatha National Forest land in Alger County and flows south and east through a lake district and on through Schoolcraft County; the river flows into the 8,659 acre Indian Lake at 46°17′36″N 86°42′20″W and flows out at 45°59′30″N 86°17′15″W. It flows east and south about 2.5 miles where it merges with the Manistique River, which flows through Manistique and into Lake Michigan at 45°56′56″N 86°14′45″W. Major tributaries include the Little Indian River, Murphy Creek, Big Murphy Creek, Smith Creek; the Indian River is a National Wild and Scenic River, with 12 miles designated "Scenic" and 39 miles designated "Recreational". This river is popular with paddlers although the section from Hovey Lake to Doe Lake is not maintained for canoes or kayaks and requires a lot of portages. From Doe Lake to Indian Lake is periodically maintained for clear passage by the forest service, but portages may still be required due to the abundance of dead-falls.
Indian River National Wild and Scenic River
Ivishak River
The Ivishak River is a 95-mile tributary of the Sagavanirktok River in the North Slope Borough of the U. S. state of Alaska. Fed by glaciers at the headwaters, the Ivishak flows northeast northwest, through the Philip Smith Mountains and the northern foothills of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it enters the Sagavanirktok River on the coastal plain south of Prudhoe Bay. On December 2, 1980, 80 miles of the Ivishak was designated a National Scenic River; the protected segments, including the headwaters, an unnamed tributary from Porcupine Lake, all but the lowermost part of the main stem, lie within the wildlife refuge. List of rivers of Alaska List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers
Ichetucknee River
The Ichetucknee River is a spring-fed, pristine river in North Central Florida. The entire 6 miles of the river average 20 feet wide, 5 feet deep and most of the 6 miles lie within the boundaries of the Ichetucknee Springs State Park while the rest is to the south of US Highway 27. Three Rivers Estates Property Owners is the property owner association that manages the area along the private side of the river as it travels and flows into the Santa Fe River; the water in the river is 72 °F year-round. There are nine named springs within the Ichetucknee Springs group with an average total flow of 212 million gallons per day; the group includes: Ichetucknee Springs, Cedar Head Spring, Blue Hole Spring, Roaring Springs, Singing Springs, Boiling Spring, Grassy Hole Springs, Mill Pond Spring, Coffee Spring. The Ichetucknee is a tributary of the Santa Fe River, which in turn flows into the Suwannee River before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico; the park restricts launch and end points along the river, permitting a tube/raft excursion of 45 min, 1.5 or 3 hours.
A variety of commercial vendors, located outside the entrance to the park, rent tubes and rafts for a modest fee. Park wildlife includes: North American river otter, North American beaver, ibis, wood stork, great blue heron, anhinga, belted kingfisher, wild turkey, wood duck, white-tailed deer, nine-banded armadillo, wild boar, The fish are bream, largemouth bass, alligator gar and catfish. West Indian manatees have been seen in the winter months; the name is derived from a Muskogean language from Creek hvcce-tuccenē "three streams". Another widespread etymology translates it as "beaver pond" with Creek stems ue- "water" and ecas- "beaver." A Hitchiti informant to anthropologist John R. Swanton pronounced the location Oetcotukni, suggesting a possible derivation from Creek ue-cutoknē "lumpy water", although he translated it as "where there is a pond of water"; the 17th-century Spanish Fig Springs mission site has been identified in the park. This is the site of Mission San Martín de Timucua, which served the Timucua chiefdom known as the Northern Utina.
Plans to reconstruct the mission and open it to the public as an interpretational site were dropped. Benjamin Hawkins listed We-cho-took-e as a Seminole settlement in 1799; the area was abandoned in the mid 19th century due to war, but was held by American settlers. The river was a popular swimming and tubing location for locals and University of Florida students up through the 1960s, which led to litter and other problems; the State of Florida began a cleanup and restoration project. It was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1972, became a tourist attraction. In the early 1990s, the springs were showing signs of an more disturbing degradation: a progressive decline in water quality; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection commissioned studies which showed that nutrient levels were increasing. Additionally, some swimmers and tubers began to report strange skin rashes caused by algae fed by nutrients introduced into the aquifer. Ichetucknee Springs State Park Ichetucknee Springs State Park Ichetucknee Springs Camp, Florida Ichnetucknee Springs State Park
Illinois River (Oregon)
The Illinois River is a tributary, about 56 miles long, of the Rogue River in the U. S. state of Oregon. It drains part of the Klamath Mountains in northern southwestern Oregon; the river's main stem begins at the confluence of its east and west forks near Cave Junction in southern Josephine County. Its drainage basin includes Sucker Creek, which rises in the Red Buttes Wilderness, near Whiskey Peak on the California state line; the main stem flows northwest in a winding course past Kerby and through the Siskiyou National Forest and Kalmiopsis Wilderness. It joins the Rogue River from the south at Agness on the Curry–Josephine county line, 27 miles from the Pacific Ocean; the river's lower 50.4 miles, from where it enters the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest downstream from Kerby to its confluence with the Rogue River, were designated Wild and Scenic in 1984. Of this, 28.7 miles is protected as wild, 17.9 miles as scenic, 3.8 miles as recreational. Sucker Creek is named after the state of Illinois.
Miners from Illinois named the creek. In 2011, the United States Forest Service worked on a project to improve the creek; the project is a fishery rehabilitation project. The Illinois River is "a wilderness river that tests both the skill and strength of boaters". For the 31-mile run along the Wild and Scenic part of the river between upper Oak Flat near Kerby and lower Oak Flat, boaters are far from trails and roads. In fact, it is "the most inaccessible river canyon in the lower 48 states..." with sections that are inaccessible by trail. Depending on the water flow, this stretch of the river has eight class IV to IV+ rapids. Green Wall, a class V, "is more difficult and longer than the others" and below it lie 3 miles of difficult rapids; the river is run by raft or kayak during the rainy season, October through April. At flows below 800 cubic feet per second, boating is difficult because of exposed rocks, flows above 3,000 cubic feet per second "turn the river into boiling holes and rapids."
A heavy rain can turn an ordinary trip into a high-water nightmare. Permits from the U. S. Forest Service are required for river trips on the Wild Section of the river and groups are limited to no more than twelve. However, the permits for non-commercial groups are free and are self issued 24/7, but the permit must be deposited at Oak Flat to verify the safe completion of the trip. Since there is no dam on the Illinois River, river flows are dependent upon weather conditions. Changing weather can result in water levels being too high or too low for safe and successful navigation. Furthermore, since water levels can rise potential bad weather can be the cause for cancelled or postponed trips. Under acceptable conditions, the Illinois River can still cause casualties. List of longest streams of Oregon List of rivers of Oregon Media related to Illinois River at Wikimedia Commons The coordinates for the Illinois River source are 42.159835°N 123.659235°W / 42.159835.
Innoko River
The Innoko River is a 500-mile tributary of the Yukon River in the U. S. state of Alaska. It flows north from its origin south of Cloudy Mountain in the Kuskokwim Mountains and southwest to meet the larger river across from Holy Cross. Most of its upper portion flows through the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge; the entire river is within the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area. Innoko is a Deg Hit’an name for the river; the Russian colonial administrators called the river Shiltonotno, Legon or Tlegon, Chagelyuk or Shageluk and Ittege at various times in the 19th century. List of rivers of Alaska Media related to Innoko River at Wikimedia Commons
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
