Crooked River (Missouri)

Kansas City metropolitan rivers with Crooked River in the east.

The Crooked River is a tributary of the Missouri River in west-central Missouri in the United States. The stream has also been known historically as "Big Creek," "Little River" and "Tiger River."[1] The Crooked River was named for its meandering disposition. Big Creek refers to the stream's status as the largest tributary to the Missouri River in the county.[2]

The Crooked River headwaters arise approximately four miles southeast of Lathrop just east of I-35 in southeastern Clinton County and flows generally southeastwardly through the southwest corner of Caldwell and Ray counties. In southwestern Ray County it collects the short East Fork[3] and West Fork[4] and flows into the Missouri River, approximately 4 miles (6 km) south of Hardin and 2.5 miles northeast of Lexington across the Missouri in northern Lafayette County.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference GNIS3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Eaton, David Wolfe (1917). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. pp. 346.
  3. ^ "East Fork Crooked River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  4. ^ "West Fork Crooked River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  5. ^ Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1st ed., 1998, p. 28 ISBN 0899332242