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
Vermilion River (Illinois River) Vermilion River (Illinois River) The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the state of Illinois, United States. The river flows north, in contrast to a second Vermilion River in Illinois, which flows south to the Wabash River. The Illinois and Wabash rivers each have a tributary named the Little Vermilion River as well. The north-flowing Vermilion River and the south-flowing Middle Fork Vermilion River run on what is close to a straight line between Oglesby and Danville. In presettlement times, the two rivers drained an upland marsh near Roberts. It is possible that early settlers regarded