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The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a 〔U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. (The National Map ), accessed May 13, 2011〕 river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary. From the dam near Huntington, Indiana, to its terminus at the Ohio River, the Wabash flows freely for . The Wabash is the state river of Indiana, and subject of the state song "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" by Paul Dresser. Two counties (in Indiana and Illinois), eight townships, one Illinois precinct, one city, one town, two colleges, one canal, and four warships are all named for the river. ==History== As the Laurentide ice sheet began to retreat from present day Northern Indiana and Northwest Ohio between 14,000 and 15,000 years ago, it receded into three distinct lobes. The eastern or Erie Lobe sat atop and behind the Fort Wayne Moraine. Meltwater from the glacier fed into two ice-marginal streams, which became the St. Joseph and St. Marys Rivers. Their combined discharge was probably the primary source of water for the proglacial Wabash River system.〔http://www.geosci.ipfw.edu/g100fldt/g100fldt.pdf〕 As the Erie Lobe of the glacier continued to retreat its meltwater was temporarily trapped between the ice front to the east and the Fort Wayne Moraine to the west, and formed proglacial Lake Maumee, the ancestor of modern Lake Erie. Around 11,000 years ago the waters of Lake Maumee became deep enough that it breached a "sag" or weak spot in the Fort Wayne Moraine. This caused a catastrophic draining of the lake which in turn scoured a wide valley known as the Wabash-Erie Channel or "sluiceway." The Little (Wabash) River flows through this channel and U.S. 24 traverses it between Fort Wayne and Huntington. The valley is the largest topographical feature in Allen County, Indiana.〔 When the ice melted completely from the region, new outlets for Lake Maumee's water opened up at elevations lower than the Wabash-Erie Channel. While the St. Joseph and St. Marys Rivers continued to flow through the channel, Lake Maumee no longer did. Now a low-lying, probably marshy bit of terrain lay in between. It is not known for certain when, but at some point in the distant past the St. Joseph and St. Marys Rivers jumped their banks and flooded the marshy ground of the Fort Wayne Outlet. The discharge of this unusual flood was enough to cut across the outlet and come into contact with the headwaters of the Maumee River. Once this happened, the flood waters rushed to the east into the Maumee River, and their erosive force was enough that the new channel cut across the Fort Wayne Outlet into the Maumee River was at a lower elevation than that of the sluiceway. This meant that when the flood waters receded, the sluiceway was permanently abandoned by the two rivers. As a result of capturing them both, the Maumee was converted from a minor creek to a large river. Once again, river waters flowed through the Fort Wayne Outlet, but now they flowed eastward, toward Lake Erie, instead of westward.〔 Following this event, the branch of the Wabash River that originates along the Wabash Moraine near Bluffton became the system's main course and source. For part of its course the Wabash follows the path of the pre-glacial Teays River. The name "Wabash" is an English spelling of the French name for the river, "Ouabache." French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, ''waapaahšiiki'', meaning "it shines white", "pure white", or "water over white stones".〔Hay, p. 26〕 The Miami name reflected the clarity of the river in Huntington County, Indiana where the river bottom is limestone.〔Bright, p. 537〕 The Wabash was first mapped by French explorers to the Mississippi, including the sections now known as the Ohio River.〔 Although the Wabash is today considered a tributary of the Ohio, the Ohio was considered a tributary of the Wabash until the mid-18th century. This is because the French traders traveled north and south from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico via the Wabash; it served as a vital trade route for North American-French trade.〔Derleth, 2〕 The United States has fought five battles on or near the river: the Battle of Vincennes (1779), St. Clair's Defeat (1791), the Attack on Fort Recovery (1794), the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811), and the Siege of Fort Harrison (1812). Different conflicts have been referred to as the "Battle of the Wabash". A remnant of the old-growth forests that once bordered the Wabash can be found at Beall Woods State Park, near Mount Carmel, Illinois. In the 19th century, the Wabash and Erie Canal, one of the longest canals in the world, was built along much the river. Portions are still accessible in modern times, but most of the abandoned canal no longer exists. The Wabash River between Terre Haute and the Ohio River was navigable by large ships during much of the 19th century, and was a regular stop for steamships. By the late 19th century, erosion due to farming and runoff made the Wabash impassable to such ships. Dredging could have resolved the problem, but was not undertaken because railroads had become the preferred form of transport. The 200 mile stretch south of Terre Haute includes several inoperable swing bridges.〔 The river has shifted course several times along the Indiana and Illinois border, creating cutoffs where parts of the river are entirely in either Indiana or Illinois. However, both states generally regard the middle of the river as the state border.〔 For nine years in the 1920s, the Grand Rapids Hotel and resort was situated in Wabash County, Illinois, near the Grand Rapids Dam on the Wabash River. The owner was Frederick Hinde Zimmerman. The hotel drew its clientele from all over the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wabash River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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