Frenchman River
Frenchman River, or Frenchman Creek (Gros Ventre: níhʔɔɔtóóúníícááh, lit. 'white person river'[1]), is a river in Saskatchewan, Canada and Montana, United States. It is a tributary of the Milk River, itself a tributary of the Missouri.
| Frenchman River | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Countries |
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| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Cypress Hills 49.47641°N 109.39518°W |
| • elevation | 975 meters (3,199 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Milk River 48.517351°N 107.251295°W |
| Length | 341 kilometers (212 mi) |
The river is approximately 341 kilometers (212 mi) long.[2]
The name origin is uncertain, although both metis and francophone settlers inhabited its banks at the turn of the 20th century. The Frenchman Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, was named for the river.
Course
The headwaters are found in Cypress Lake, in the Cypress Hills, at an elevation of 975 meters (3,199 ft). It flows east towards Eastend, then turns south-east. Various reservoirs are built on its course (Eastend Reservoir, Huff Lake, Newton Lake) and the river is used extensively for irrigation. The river becomes meandered as it flows through the Grasslands National Park, then turns south into Montana, where it flows into the Milk River, in Phillips County, Montana, north of Saco.
Fish species
The fish species include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, burbot, common carp, white sucker and shorthead redhorse.
References
- Cowell, A.; Taylor, A.; Brockie, T. "Gros Ventre ethnogeography and place names: A diachronic perspective". Anthropological Linguistics. 58 (2): 132–170. doi:10.1353/anl.2016.0025.
- Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. "Frenchman River". Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
