Menominee River (Illinois) Menominee River (Illinois) The Menominee River is an tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. The name "Menominee" refers to the Menominee, a Native American people. The name means "good seed" or "wild rice". The Menominee rises in Grant County, Wisconsin at the confluence of Louisburg and Kieler creeks one mile south of Kieler just east of U.S. Route 151 and flows south past Sandy Hook and enters Illinois just south of Wisconsin Highway 11. It continues south through the northwestern corner of Illinois for about four miles before reaching its confluence with 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