Miami River (Oregon)

Miami River
Lower Miami River
Miami River (Oregon) is located in Oregon
Miami River (Oregon)
Location of the mouth of the Miami River in Oregon
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyTillamook County
Physical characteristics
SourceNorthern Oregon Coast Range
 • locationNortheast of Tillamook
 • coordinates45°38′51″N 123°43′44″W / 45.64750°N 123.72889°W / 45.64750; -123.72889[1]
 • elevation1,782 ft (543 m)[2]
MouthTillamook Bay
 • location
Oregon
 • coordinates
45°33′35″N 123°53′37″W / 45.55972°N 123.89361°W / 45.55972; -123.89361[1]
 • elevation
7 ft (2.1 m)[1]
Length13 mi (21 km)[3][4]
Basin size36.7 sq mi (95 km2)[5]

The Miami River is a stream, approximately 13 miles (21 km) long, on the coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous timbered region of the Northern Oregon Coast Range west of Portland, into Pacific Ocean.[3][4]

The river rises in northern Tillamook County in the Tillamook State Forest and flows generally southwest, entering the north end of Tillamook Bay near Garibaldi. Descending swiftly from 1,782 feet (543 m) to near sea level, the Miami does not pass through any communities.[3][4] It is one of five rivers—the Tillamook, the Trask, the Wilson, the Kilchis, and the Miami—that flow into the bay.[6]

The river's name is based on the Chinook Jargon phrase Mi-me Chuck, meaning a tributary or downriver stream. Over time the expressive became corrupted into Miami, the familiar place name used in Ohio, Florida, and elsewhere.[7]

  1. ^ a b c "Miami River". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  2. ^ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. ^ a b c Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer (Map) (2008 ed.). DeLorme Mapping. §§ 20. ISBN 978-0-89933-347-2.
  4. ^ a b c United States Geological Survey. "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Cook Creek, Foley Peak, Kilchis River, and Garibaldi quadrants". TopoQuest. Retrieved December 2, 2009. The maps include river mile (RM) markers from the river's mouth to RM 12 or river kilometer (RK) 19, an estimated 1 mile (1.6 km) from the source.
  5. ^ "Miami River Basin". Tillamook Bay Watershed Council. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  6. ^ "Five Rivers". Tillamook Bay Watershed Council. Archived from the original on August 7, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  7. ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (1992) [1928]. Lewis Ankeny (ed.). Oregon Geographic Names (6th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 562. ISBN 0-87595-236-4.