St. Joseph River (Maumee River)

OriginEdit

At the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, the glacier's Erie Lobe retreated toward the northeast, leaving large debris deposits called moraines. The St. Joseph formed as a meltwater channel between the north limbs of two of these moraines, the Wabash Moraine on the west and the Fort Wayne Moraine on the east. At that time it joined the St. Marys River to drain into the Wabash River. Later, the shrinkage of Glacial Lake Maumee, the ancestor of modern Lake Erie, brought about the opening of the modern Maumee River, which captured the flow of the St. Joseph and the St. Marys, causing the St. Marys to reverse its course to meet the flow of the St. Joseph almost head-on.

The St. Joseph todayEdit

The St. Joseph River forms in northern Williams County, Ohio, at the confluence of the East and West branches at 41°38′54″N 84°33′55″W Both branches rise in southern Hillsdale County, Michigan. The headwaters of the East Branch are within 3 miles (4.8 km) of those of the St. Joseph River of Lake Michigan. Both branches initially flow southeast, then turn to the southwest to flow across the northwestern corner of Ohio past Montpelier. The St. Joseph enters De Kalb County in northeastern Indiana, flowing southwest past Saint Joe and into the city of Fort Wayne, where it meets the St. Marys River to form the Maumee River at 41°04′58″N 85°07′56″W.

TributariesEdit

From the mouth:

(left) Becketts Run

(right) Tiernan Ditch

(left) Ely Run

(left) Cedar Creek

Cedarville Reservoir

(left) Nettlehorst Ditch

(left) Warner Ditch

(right) Wittmer Ditch

(right) Haifley Ditch

(left) Swartz-Carnahan Ditch

Dunton Lake

(right) Boger Ditch

(left) Metcalf Ditch

(right) Walker Ditch

(left) Dilley Ditch

(left) Wade Ditch

(left) Bear Creek

(right) North Branch Hursey Ditch

(right) Carper Ditch

(left) South Branch Hursey Ditch

(right) Swander Ditch

(right) Nancy Davis Ditch

(left) Sol Shank Ditch

(right) Weicht Ditch

(left) Sebert Ditch

(right) Varner Ditch

(left) Hoodelmier Ditch

(right) Melissa Ditch

(left) Buck Creek

(left) Smith Ditch

(right) Mason Ditch

(left) Metcalf Ditch

(right) Harwood Ditch

(left) Christoffel Ditch

(right) Willow Run

(right) Amaden Ditch

(right) Greens Ditch

(right) Foulks Ditch

(left) Peter Grube Ditch

(left) Big Run

(right) Ayford Ditch

(left) Walters Ditch

(right) Streeter Ditch

(right) Praul Ditch

(right) Mary Metcalf Ditch

(left) Teutsch Ditch

(left) Donnell Ditch

(right) King Ditch

(right) John Smith Ditch

(left) Haverstolk Ditch

(left) Russell Run

(left) Fish Creek

(right) Cornell Ditch

(left) Hiram Sweet Ditch

(right) Baker Ditch

(left) Hamilton Lake

Black Creek

(left) Haughey Ditch

(left) Lillian Metz Ditch

(right) Burch Ditch

Ball Lake

(left) Myers Ditch

Perfect Lake

(left) West Branch Fish Creek

(left) Donald Nunkle Ditch

(left) Bluff Run

(left) Bear Creek

(left) Tamarack Ditch

(left) Eagle Creek

(right) North Branch Eagle Creek

(left) Nettle Creek

Nettle Lake

(right) Mill Stream Drain

(right) East Branch St. Joseph River (rises in southwest Adams Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan at 41°54′17″N 84°33′52″W)

(left) Clear Fork

(left) Silver Creek

Merry Lake

(left) Laird Creek

(right) Nile Ditch

(left) Ransom Ditch

(left) Bird Creek

Bird Lake

(left) Newton Drain

(left) Dillon Drain

(left) Anderson Drain

(left) Goose Creek

(left) Lake Number One

Lake Number Two

Pittsford Millpond

(right) Otto Drain

Deer Lake

Twin Lake

(left) West Branch St. Joseph River (rises just south of the intersection of Carpenter Rd. and W. Territorial Rd. in southern Cambria Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan at 41°38′53″N 84°41′24″W)

Lake Seneca

(left) outflow from Lake La Su An

(right) East Fork West Branch St. Joseph River (rises in northwest Cambria Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan at 41°51′53″N 84°40′34″W)

(left) Jonas Brown Drain

(left) Carruthers Drain

(right) outflow from Cub Lake

Cambria Millpond

(left) Cambria Drain

(left) Meade Drain

Bear Lake

(left) Pike Lake

Broom Lake

Lake Wilson

Bankers Lake

(left) West Fork West Branch St. Joseph River (rises from the outlfow of Rebeck Lake in northwest Camden Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan at 41°48′22″N 84°48′22″W)

(left) Joe Drain

(left) Prouty Drain

Rebeck Lake

Mead Lake

Turner Lake

Drainage basinEdit

The St. Joseph River and tributaries drain all or portions of the following:

Allen County, Indiana

Cedar Creek Township

Cedarville

Eel River Township

Fort Wayne

Grabill

Milan Township

Perry Township

St. Joseph Township

Springfield Township

Washington Township

DeKalb County, Indiana

Auburn

Butler Township

Butler

Concord Township

Franklin Township

Garrett

Jackson Township

Keyser Township

Newville Township

Richland Township

Grant Township

Fairfield Township

Saint Joe

Smithfield Township

Spencer Township

Spencerville

Stafford Township

Troy Township

Union Township

Waterloo

Wilmington Township

Noble County, Indiana

Avilla

Allen Township

Green Township

LaOtto

Swan Township

Wayne Township

Steuben County, Indiana

Clear Lake Township

Hamilton

Otsego Township

Richland Township

York Township

Defiance County, Ohio

Milford Township

Williams County, Ohio

Bridgewater Township

Blakeslee

Center Township

Edgerton

Edon

Florence Township

Madison Township

Montpelier

Northwest Township

Pioneer

St. Joseph Township

Superior Township

Hillsdale County, Michigan

Adams Township

Amboy Township

Cambria Township

Camden Township

Camden

Jefferson Township

Osseo

Pittsford Township

Ransom Township

Reading Township

Wheatland Township

Woodbridge Township

Wright Township