Wood River (Illinois) Wood River (Illinois) Wood River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins near East Alton, Illinois, to the northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The Wood River is formed by the confluence of its West and East forks. These come together near where they drop down from the Mississippi bluffs. The natural channel of the Wood River used to follow the Mississippi through the bottoms before joining it. This has been cut off by an artificial channel that runs through flood control structures directly to the Mississippi. The West Fork of the Wood River is long, and the
Big Black River (Mississippi) northern border of Claiborne County. The Big Black River and most of its tributaries are silt-filled. The rivers carry large amounts of suspended sediment, resulting mostly from agricultural runoff. These tributaries are slow-flowing muddy streams. However, some are swift-flowing with sandy bottoms. The Battle of Big Black River Bridge, fought during the Battle of Vicksburg, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign in the American Civil War. The size of the Big Black River Basin drainage area is . Its elevation varies from 50 to 650 feet (14 to 198 meters) above sea level. It is long and averages 22 to