Menominee River (Illinois) Mississippi River after crossing under U.S. Route 20. The river is part of the Driftless Area of Illinois and Wisconsin, a region that remained ice-free during the last ice age. 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
Vermilion River (Illinois River) these as a single river that flowed in two directions. It is also possible that, in early settlement times, these rivers formed a canoe route between the Illinois River and Wabash River, with a portage through the marshes near Roberts. This may explain why the two rivers have the same name. The north-flowing Vermilion flows in a northerly direction from its origin in Livingston and Ford counties in north central Illinois, eventually emptying into the Illinois River, near Oglesby. Perhaps it is best known for its stretch of whitewater between Lowell and Oglesby, Illinois, which is one of few found