Susquehanna River
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{{Geobox River
<!-- *** Name section *** -->
| name = Susquehanna River
| native_name =
| other_name =
| other_name1 =
<!-- *** Image *** --->
| image = Susquehanna River 700.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Susquehanna River near [[Chesapeake Bay]]
<!-- *** Country etc. *** -->
| country = [[USA]]
| country1 =
| state = [[Maryland]]
| state1 = [[Pennsylvania]]
| state2 = [[New York]]
| region =
| region1 =
| district =
| district1 =
| city = [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg, PA]]
| city1 = [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania|Wilkes-Barre, PA]]
| city2 = [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton, PA]]
| city3 = [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton, NY]]
<!-- *** Geography *** -->
| length_imperial = 444
| watershed_imperial = 27500
| discharge_location = [[Conowingo Dam]], MD
| discharge_average_imperial = 40080
| discharge_max_imperial = 410000
| discharge_min_imperial = 2990
| discharge1_location = [[Danville, Pennsylvania|Danville]], PA
| discharge1_average_imperial = 29000
<!-- *** Source *** -->
| source_name = [[Otsego Lake]]
| source_location = [[Cooperstown, New York|Cooperstown]]
| source_district =
| source_region = [[Otsego County, New York|Otsego County]]
| source_state = [[New York]]
| source_country = [[USA]]
| source_lat_d = 42
| source_lat_m = 42
| source_lat_s = 02
| source_lat_NS = N
| source_long_d = 74
| source_long_m = 55
| source_long_s = 10
| source_long_EW = W
| source_elevation_imperial = 1180
| source_length_imperial =
<!-- *** Mouth *** -->
| mouth_name = [[Chesapeake Bay]]
| mouth_location = [[Havre de Grace, Maryland|Havre de Grace]]
| mouth_district =
| mouth_region = [[Harford County, Maryland|Harford County]]
| mouth_state = [[Maryland]]
| mouth_country = [[USA]]
| mouth_lat_d = 39
| mouth_lat_m = 32
| mouth_lat_s = 35
| mouth_lat_NS = N
| mouth_long_d = 76
| mouth_long_m = 04
| mouth_long_s = 32
| mouth_long_EW = W
| mouth_elevation_imperial = 0
<!-- *** Tributaries *** -->
| tributary_left =
| tributary_left1 =
| tributary_right = [[West Branch Susquehanna River|West Branch]]
| tributary_right1 = [[Juniata River]]
<!-- *** Free fields *** -->
| free_name =
| free_value =
<!-- *** Map section *** -->
| map = susq.png
| map_size =
| map_caption = The Susquehanna watershed
}}
The '''Susquehanna River''' (originally "Sasquesahanough" per the 1612 [[John Smith of Jamestown|John Smith]] map) is a [[river]] located in the northeastern [[United States]]. At approximately 444 mi (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the [[East Coast of the United States|American east coast]] and the 16th longest in the United States. The Susquehanna forms from two main branches, with the North Branch, which rises in upstate [[New York]] often regarded as an extension of the main branch. The shorter [[West Branch Susquehanna River|West Branch]], which rises in western [[Pennsylvania]], is sometimes regarded as the principal tributary, joining the North Branch near [[Northumberland, Pennsylvania|Northumberland]] in central Pennsylvania. The river drains 27,500 square miles (71,225 km²), covering nearly half of the land area of Pennsylvania and portions of New York and Maryland. The drainage basin includes portions of the [[Allegheny Plateau]] region of the [[Appalachian Mountains]], cutting through [[water gap]]s in the lateral mountain ridges in a broad [[zigzag]] course to flow across the rural heartland of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern [[Maryland]]. The river empties into the northern end of the [[Chesapeake Bay]], the [[ria]] of the Susquehanna, providing half of the freshwater inflow for the entire Chesapeake Bay.
==Description==
Rising as the outlet of [[Otsego Lake]] in [[Cooperstown, New York]], the north branch of the river runs west-southwest through dairy country, receiving the [[Unadilla River]] at [[Sidney, New York|Sidney]] and the [[Chenango River|Chenango]] in downtown [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton]]. At [[Athens Township, Pennsylvania|Athens]] in northern Pennsylvania, just across the New York state line, it receives the [[Chemung River|Chemung]] from the northwest and makes a right angle curve between Sayre and [[Towanda, Pennsylvania|Towanda]] to cut through the [[Endless Mountains]] in the [[Allegheny Plateau]]. It receives the [[Lackawanna River]] southwest of [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]] and turns sharply to the southwest, flowing through the former anthracite industrial heartland in the mountain ridges of northeastern Pennsylvania, past [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania|Wilkes-Barre]], [[Berwick, Pennsylvania|Berwick]], [[Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania|Bloomsburg]], and [[Danville, Pennsylvania|Danville]]. It receives the smaller West Branch from the northwest at [[Northumberland, Pennsylvania|Northumberland]], just above [[Sunbury, Pennsylvania| Sunbury]].
[[Image:Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State Capital Building.jpg|300px|left|thumb|[[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], with the state capitol dome, from across the Susquehanna River]]
Downstream from the confluence of its branches it flows south past [[Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania|Selinsgrove]], where it is joined by its [[Penns Creek]] tributary, and cuts through a water gap at the western end of [[Mahantongo]] Mountain. It receives the [[Juniata River]] from the northwest at [[Duncannon, Pennsylvania|Duncannon]], then passes through its last water gap, through [[Blue Ridge Mountains|Blue Mountain]] Pennsylvania, just northwest of [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]]. It passes downtown Harrisburg (where it is nearly a mile wide), the largest city on the lower river, and flows southeast across [[South Central Pennsylvania]], forming the border between [[York County, Pennsylvania|York]] and [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] counties, as well as receiving [[Swatara Creek]] from the northeast. It crosses into northern [[Maryland]] approximately 30 miles (50 km) northeast of [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], where it is joined by [[Octoraro Creek]]. Finally the river enters the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay at [[Havre de Grace, Maryland|Havre de Grace]], where [[Concord Point Light]] was built in 1827 to accommodate the increasing navigational traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lhdigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=1004
|title=Two Lights on the Hill
|publisher=
|accessdate=2006-12-28
}}</ref>
{{seealso|List of cities and towns along the Susquehanna River}}
==Geology==
[[Geology|Geologically]], the river is extremely ancient, often regarded as the oldest or second oldest major system in the world. {{Fact|date=September 2007}} It is far older than the mountain ridges through which it turns, most of which were formed in uplift events of the early [[Cenozoic]] era. Like the [[Hudson River|Hudson]], [[Delaware River|Delaware]] and [[Potomac River|Potomac]] rivers, the basin was well-established in the [[Geology of the Appalachians|flat plains that existed]] during the [[Mesozoic]] era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libraries.psu.edu/emsl/guides/X/york.htm
|title=Description of the Geology of York County Peninsula
|publisher=Penn State University Libraries
|accessdate=2007-10-26
}}</ref> There is evidence that the flow of the ancient Susquehanna was established early enough that it predated the [[Appalachian orogeny]] over 300 million years ago, meaning that the river was in existence well before [[Pangea]] broke up and formed the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Before the end of the last ice age, the Susquehanna was a much longer river. The Chesapeake Bay constituted its lower valley before it was flooded by rising waters at the conclusion of the [[Pleistocene]], a formation known as a [[ria]].
==Pollution==
[[Image:Susquehanna ETM 19990923 lrg.jpg|thumb|250px|Satellite photo of the Susquehanna (upper left) where it empties into Chesapeake Bay (center)]]
The environmental group American Rivers named the Susquehanna "America's Most Endangered River for 2005" due to the excessive pollution it receives. It is the habitat of the [[Pennsylvania wood cockroach]]. Most of the pollution in the river is due to excess animal manure, agricultural runoff, urban and suburban stormwater, and raw or inadequately treated sewage. In 2003 the river alone contributed 44% of the nitrogen, 21% of the phosphorus, and 21% of the sediment flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvania may be subject to [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] sanctions if it does not reduce its pollution in the watershed by 2010. [http://www.cbf.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10769]
It was designated as one of the [[American Heritage Rivers]] in 1997.
==Historic importance==
The river has played an enormous role throughout the history of the United States. Before European conquest, the [[Susquehannock]], an [[Iroquoian]] tribe lived along the river and gave the Susquehanna its name. In the 17th century, it was inhabited largely by the [[Lenape]], forming roughly the western boundary of their inhabited territory, known as [[Lenapehoking]]. In the 18th century, [[William Penn]], the founder of the [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Colony]], negotiated with the Lenape to allow white settlement in the colony between the [[Delaware River]] and the Susquehanna. Local legend claims that the name of the river comes from an Indian phrase meaning "mile wide, foot deep," referring to the Susquehanna's unusual dimensions, but while the word is [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]], it simply means "muddy current."<ref>Kelton, Dwight H. ''Indian Names of Places Near the Great Lakes''. (Detroit, MI: Detroit Free Press Printing Company, 1888).</ref><ref>''c.f.'' [[Anishinaabe language]] ''azhashkijiwan'' "be a muddy current"</ref>
In the late colonial times, the river became an increasingly important transportation corridor with the discovery of [[anthracite coal]] by Necho Allen in its upper reaches in the mountains. In 1792, the [[Union Canal (Pennsylvania)|Union Canal]] was proposed linking the Susquehanna and the Delaware along Swatara Creek and [[Tulpehocken Creek (Pennsylvania)|Tulpehocken Creek]]. In the 19th century, the river became the scene of the growth of industrial centers.
[[Image:Gen Clinton's Dam Monument.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Monument at the site of Gen. Clinton's dam at the source of the Susquehanna River on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New York]]
In 1779 General [[James Clinton]] led an expedition down the Susquehanna after making the upper portion navigable by damming up the river's source at Otsego Lake, allowing the lake's level to rise, and then destroying the dam and flooding the river for miles downstream. This event is described by [[James Fenimore Cooper]] in the introduction to his popular novel ''[[The Pioneers]]''. At [[Athens, Pennsylvania]], then known as Tioga or "Tioga Point", Clinton met up with General [[John Sullivan]]'s forces, who had marched from [[Easton, Pennsylvania]]. Together on [[August 29]], they defeated the [[Tory|Tories]] and [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]] at the [[Battle of Newtown]] (near today's city of [[Elmira, New York]]). This became known as the "Sullivan-Clinton Campaign" or the "[[Sullivan Expedition]]."
Conflicting land claims by Pennsylvania and [[Connecticut]] to the [[Wyoming Valley]] along the Susquehanna led to the founding of [[Westmoreland County, Connecticut]], and the [[Pennamite Wars]], which eventually led to the territory being ceded to Pennsylvania.
The Susquehanna River holds importance for members of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] as the location where [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and [[Oliver Cowdery]] received the [[priesthood]] from heavenly beings. On [[15 May]], [[1829]], according to section 13 of the [[Doctrine and Covenants]], they were visited by the [[resurrected]] [[John the Baptist]]. Following his visit, Joseph and Oliver baptized each other in the river. Later that year, they were also visited near the river by the [[apostles]] [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[James, son of Zebedee|James]] and [[John the Apostle|John]], as alluded to in sections 27 and 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Both events took place in unspecified locations near the river's shore in either [[Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Susquehanna County]], or [[Broome County, New York|Broome County]].
During the [[American Civil War]]'s 1863 [[Gettysburg Campaign]], the commander of the [[Department of the Susquehanna]], [[Union Army|Union]] [[Major General]] [[Darius N. Couch]] resolved that [[Robert E. Lee]]'s [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Army of Northern Virginia]] would not cross the Susquehanna. He positioned [[militia]] units under Maj. [[Granville Haller]] to protect key bridges in Harrisburg and [[Wrightsville, Pennsylvania|Wrightsville]], as well as nearby fords. Confederate forces approached the river at several locations in [[Cumberland County, Pennsylvania|Cumberland]] and [[York County, Pennsylvania|York]] counties, but were recalled on [[June 29]] when Lee chose to concentrate his army to the west.
In 1972, the remnants of [[Hurricane Agnes]] stalled over the New York-Pennsylvania border, dropping as much as 20 inches (50.8 cm) of rain on the hilly lands. Much of that precipitation was received into the Susquehanna from its western tributaries, and the valley suffered disastrous flooding. [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], was among the hardest hit communities. The [[Chesapeake Bay]] received so much fresh water that it killed much of the marine life.
In 1979, the river was the scene of the most serious [[nuclear power]] accident in U.S. history at [[Three Mile Island]] southeast of Harrisburg.
In June 2006, significant portions of the river system were affected by the [[Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006]], a flood caused by a stalled jet stream-driven storm system. The most significantly affected area in the Susquehanna river basin was in and around the [[Binghamton, NY]] region, where flooding exceeded historical records and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and the destruction of significant amounts of property and infrastructure.
==Rowing==
The Susquehanna River has become the home for various college crew teams, most notably [[Binghamton University]], [[Susquehanna University]], [[Bucknell University]] and the [[University of Scranton]]. Some of the annual rivers races include the [[Plagge-Poluzza]] in [[Port Deposit]] [[Maryland]], and
the [[General Clinton Canoe Regatta]], held each Memorial Day weekend between [[Cooperstown, New York]] and [[Bainbridge, New York]].
==Bridges, ferries, canals and dams==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
{{seealso|List of crossings of the Susquehanna River}}
{{seealso|List of dams and reservoirs of the Susquehanna River}}
The Susquehanna River has always loomed large in the transportation history of the [[United States]]. Prior to the 1818 opening of the [[Port Deposit Bridge]], the river formed a barrier between the northern and southern states, crossable only by ferry. The earliest dams were constructed to support ferry operations in low water. The presence of many rapids in the river meant that while commercial traffic could navigate down the river in the spring thaws, nothing could move up. This led to the construction of two different canal systems on the lower Susquehanna; the first was the [[Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal#Susquehanna Canal|Susquehanna Canal]], also called the Conowingo Canal or the Port Deposit Canal, completed in 1802 by a Maryland company known as the Proprietors of the Susquehanna Canal; the second was the much longer and more successful [[Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal]]. The canals required additional dams to provide canal water and navigation pools. As the industrial age progressed, bridges replaced ferries, and railroads replaced canals, often built right on top of the canal right of way along the river. Many canal remnants can be seen in [[Havre de Grace, Maryland]], along [[US Route 15]] in Pennsylvania, and in upstate New York at various locations. These latter remnants are parts of the upstream divisions of the [[Pennsylvania Canal]], of privately funded canals, and of canals in the New York system.
Today, there are over two hundred bridges crossing the Susquehanna. The sole remaining ferry, at [[Millersburg, Pennsylvania]], is a seasonal tourist attraction. The canals are gone or are part of historical parks, and dams are related to power generation or recreation. Perhaps the most famous of the bridges, the [[Rockville Bridge]], crosses the river from [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], to [[Marysville, Pennsylvania]]. The Rockville Bridge, when constructed, was the longest [[stone masonry]] [[arch bridge]] in the world. It was built by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] in the early 1900s, replacing an earlier iron bridge.
==See also==
*[[List of Maryland rivers]]
*[[List of New York rivers]]
*[[List of Pennsylvania rivers]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/current/?type=flow U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations]
*[http://www.srbc.net/ Susquehanna River Basin Commission]
*[http://www.americanrivers.org/site/News2?abbr=AMR_&page=NewsArticle&id=7194 American Rivers article: ''Susquehanna River "Most Endangered"'']
*[http://portdeposit.com/History/RiverArks.htm History of the Susquehanna River Ark]
{{geolinks-US-river|([[Chesapeake Bay]])|39.5430|-76.0755|([[Otsego Lake]])|42.7006|-74.9200}}
{{Susquehanna River System}}
{{Maryland waters}}
[[Category:American Heritage Rivers]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Rivers of Maryland]]
[[Category:Rivers of New York]]
[[Category:Susquehanna River| ]]
[[Category:Significant places in Mormonism]]
[[cs:Susquehanna]]
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[[pl:Susquehanna (rzeka)]]
[[pt:Rio Susquehanna]]
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[[zh:薩斯奎哈納河]]