Creeks and Rivers - Madison County, Missouri

A stream in east Marquand Township, which enters from Bollinger County, flows west, and empties into Castor River. It was named for a pioneer family. (Andrews)

A stream in the northern part of Castor Township, which empties into Castor River.

A large stream which runs through Big Creek Township in the southern part of Madison County and enters Wayne Countyin the north part of Cedar Creek Township, where it flows into Castor River.

It is named for its size. In Madison County the creek has three branches, East, Middle, and West Forks, all in big Creek Township. (Waggoner, McCormick, Stroup, Campbell (1873)

A small creek in the northwest part of Polk Township, a western tributary of St. Francois River, named for the landowner, Monroe Brewer. (Brewington)

A stream in the western part of Big Creek Township, named for the deer which the early hunters found here. (Waggoner, Ferguson)

A small creek in the western part of Liberty Township, named from the cane, hollow jointed ligneous stemmed giant reeds or grasses (L. canna, reed), which grow along the creek. (Dewitt, Tallent, Wiggs)

A small stream which rises in the western part of Union Township, enters Madison County in Castor Township, andempties into Castor River.

Whether this creek was so designated when this was apart of Cape Girardeau County (commonly called Cape County), or whether the creek was so called because it forms a cape like region in its course is a matter of conjecture. (Dewitt, Highway Map)

A creek rising in the southern part of St. Francois Township, flowing south through Central and part of TwelveMile Township where it empties into St. Francois River.

It was named for Captain Andrew De Guire, a pioneer who had served as a captain in the Civil War and was so called by all his acquaintances. (Campbell, Mouser, Ferguson, Thompson)

Castor River rises in St. Francois County, flows south through Madison County near the eastern boundary, then for a short distance along the boundary line between Wayne and Bollinger. It enters Bollinger in Fillmore Township and flows southeast through Wayne Township into Stoddard County, and thence into New Madrid County, where it empties intoLittle River.

Prior to the white man's coming the region in what is now the southernpart of Madison and the western part of Bollinger counties was a mass of canebrakes where pools of water collected in rainy seasons. Here beavers built dams and held back the water coming down from the St. Francois hills to the north. When heavy rains came, the beaver dams were broken and the water formeda channel.

After many repetitions of this process a river was formed, and it was called Castor, a word meaning beaver, by the French who came to the Mine LaMotte district (in Madison County) near the source of this stream in 1725.

Schoolcraft in 1818 refers to this branch as Crooked Creek. (Present Crooked Creek is a few miles east and joins Castor River in New Madrid County). Beck calls the river Castor or Crooked Creek in 1823.

Wetmore calls it Castor in1837, but the name Crooked Creek is not entirely separated from this branch until 1873. (Conard, Douglass I: XII, XIV, Schoolcraft, Beck, Wetmore, Long's Voyage, Campbell, Hopkins, Miss Hamlett's thesis)

A small creek in the southern part of Twelve Mile Township, named for the cedars which grow on the hillsides along the stream. (McCormick)

Also a small stream in the southern part of St. Francois Township, flowing into St. Francois River. Cf. above.

A small stream in the eastern part of Castor Township, emptying into Castor River. The origin of the name has not been ascertained. (County Highway Map)

A small stream which rises in Union Township, Bollinger County, flows west into Castor Township, Madison County, and empties into Castor River. It is named for Silas Combs, a well-known settler. (Madison Plat, Goodspeed)

A small creek in the eastern part of Castor Township, flowing into Saline Creek, and named for the wild geese which frequented the creek and marshy land nearby in pioneer days. (McCormick)

A small creek in the eastern part of Marquand Township. Messrs. Mouser and Stephens say this stream was so named because of the greasewood (sarcobatus vermiculatus), growing along the banks.

Elsewhere in Missouri the term "greasy" is used in a common dialectsense of "muddy." This creek is called Mouser Creek at its mouth because it flows through the Mouser settlement. See Mouser School. (Mouser, Stephens, theses by Misses Zimmer and Pottenger, R.L. Ramsay)

A small stream which rises in the northwestern part of Crooked Creek Township, flows west, enters Madison Countyin the northern part of Marquand Township and empties into the Castor River.

It is named for a pioneer family, several members of which settled up and down the creek. (Berry) (Watts)

A small creek in the western part of St. Michael and east Castor townships, named for the Hacker family who have a farm on the stream. Written Hackle on some maps, but this is obviously the map maker's error. (County Map, Goodspeed)

A small east tributary of St.Francois River in the south part of Twelve Mile Township.

This name probably had the same origin as Huzzah or Huzza creeks in Dent and Iron counties, or Hoozaw River in Warren and St. Charles: i.e., an earlier form of the Indian tribal name Osage. (See theses by Misses O'Brien, Harrison, Zimmer)

A small western tributary ofSt. Francois River in central Liberty Township, near Jewett.

Named for the species of timber known as Leatherwood (Dirca palustris), which grows there. Leatherwood is a small shrub with tough (leathery), pliant stems and smallyellow leaves.

A small stream which rises in St. Francois County, runs south through Mine La Motte and St. Michaels townships., then west to form the boundary between Polk and St. Francoistownships, and joins the St. Francis River near Silvermine.

The name suggests the relative size of this branch and the main stream of St. Francis River. (Waggoner)

A stream in the southwest part of Polk Township, running northeast into Stout's Creek. This is probably a family name. (County Map)

A western tributary of St. Francois River in the northwest part of Central Township, south of Rock Creek (q.v.), from which it is named. (McFarland, Waggoner)

A western tributary of St. Francis River, in the west part of Liberty Township, named from the marble found there. (Schulte)

Small creek in the eastern partof Liberty Township, which flows into the St. Francois River.

Named for Charles S. Marhs, merchant and landowner. (McCormick, Madison County Press (1937) )

A small stream in the central partof St. Francois Township, running north into Little St. Francis River.

It isnamed for John H. Mathews who came to Madison County in 1841, married Mary P. St. Genune, daughter of John B. St. Genune, who was one of the early Frenchsettlers.

Mathews bought St. Genune's farm in 1852 and was a successful farmer and well-known citizen. (Goodspeed)

A stream in the western part of St. Michael Township. Originally called Calloway settlement, and the creek is named from the water powered mill operated by John Calloway on this stream in pioneerdays.

John Calloway came to Madison County from Maryland in 1799. Some time later Peter Calloway came and their descendants still live in the county.(Andrews, Thompson, Goodspeed)

A small stream flowing into Big St.Francis River, in the southern part of Liberty Township, doubtless named for a landowner. (County Highway Map)

A small creek in the eastern partof Marquand Township, which empties into Castor River.

It is named for the Mouser family, who lived in this region. The upper part of the creek is called Greasy Creek. (Mouser, McCann)

A small creek in the eastern part of Polk Township, named for the Musco Indian family who lived on the south bank of this creek for several years previous to 1817. (Goodspeed)

A small stream in Central Township, running south into Twelve Mile Creek near Zion, doubtless named for a landowner. (Highway Map)

A small eastern tributary of St. Francis River in the southeast part of St. Francois Township. It was named for the scrub pine growing along the banks of the stream. (Mouser, King)

A small creek which flows souththrough St. Michael Township, empties into St. Francois River.

It is named for the thicket of wild plums which grew along its banks. (County Map, Paul Berry)

A western tributary of Castor River in south Marquand Township, so named because the stream issues from a pond or small lake. (Waggoner)

A large creek which flows through Fredericktown in St. Michael Township, through Castor Township, into PerryCounty and empties into the Mississippi River.

Salt springs were found along its banks; and near the mouth. Pegreau, a Frenchman, manufactured salt in 1804, although the salt deposits were known earlier. (Houck I 247, 277, Thompson, Beck (1823) )

A small tributary of Village Creek, which rises near Mine La Motte and flows south into St. Michael Township. It is named for an early settler. (Highway Map)

A large creek flowing into the Castor River in Marquand and Big Creek Townships. It was named for CalebShetley, a large landowner there.

Two branches of the creek are designated East Fork or East Prong of Shetley's Creek and West Fork or Prong of Shetley's Creek from their location. (Deguire, Ellis)

On the Highway Map of 1940 it is called Slater Branch; it is probably named for a landowner. (Goodspeed)

A small stream in the northern part of Marquand Township, running north into White Springs Branch, named for Professor J. F. Snowden, pioneer teacher and landowner in the community. (Stephens)

A stream in the southeast part ofSt. Michael Township, which empties into Castor River.

It was named for Francis Marion Tucker who came to Mine La Motte in 1781, purchased a farm in1888 and lived there the rest of his life.

He is a grandson of Francis Tucker who came from Maryland to Perry County, Missouri, and started the well-known Tucker Settlement (q.v.), there.

A small creek flowing into Castor River in the eastern part of Castor Township, and named for the wild turkeys found there by the pioneer hunters. (Waggoner)

Also a small stream in East Polk Township, an eastern tributary of St. Francois River. Cf. above.

A large creek flowing west through Central, Marquand, and Twelve Mile townships and emptying into the St.Francois River near Saco.

So named because its headwaters are approximately twelve miles from the County Seat, Fredericktown. The name is also written Twelvemile Creek. (Ferguson)

A small creek in the northeast part of St. Michael's Township, a tributary of Little St. Francis River, which is named from the "Village," i.e. the place where the original villageof St. Michael was located before the flood of 1814.

The creek was evidently called Village Creek when the village was first settled in 1804.

Schoolcraft refers to it in 1819, saying of the second or "New Village," St. Michael is situated on a plain on Village Creek." (Ferguson, Rothensteiner)

A small stream which enters eastern Marquand Township from Bollinger County and runs into Castor River atMarquand.

The name doubtless refers to the "wash" or low swamp from which the creek flows. (Highway Map)

A small stream, flowing into Castor River in the eastern part of Marquand Township from White Springs (q.v.), from which it is named. (Andrews, White, Francis)

A stream in the eastern part of Marquand Township, which empties into Castor River. It was named for the Henry Whitener family.

Henry Whitener came to Madison County in 1804 from North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Bollinger, of Bollinger County.

Henry Whitener is a descendant of Henry Wetner, of Belgium, and brother of Ernest I ofSaxe-Coburg and Victoria.

He came to America and took the name Henry Weidner, fought in the Revolution, married Cathrine Muehl.

His son Henry Americanized the name to Whitener and was the father of the Henry who came to Madison County. (Goodspeed, Thompson)

A place on St. Francois River, where the stream passes between two mountains, hence thename.

Hamlett, Mayme L. "Place Names Of Six Southeast Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis.,

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