Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River)

The Kinnickinnic River is one of three primary rivers that flows into the harbor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Lake Michigan, along with the Menomonee River and Milwaukee River. It is locally called the "KK River".

Kinnickinnic is an Ojibwe word which literally means "what is mixed", referring to the mixing of indigenous plants and tobaccos. Often called Milwaukee's forgotten river, it is the smallest within the Milwaukee River Basin, yet is the most urbanized and densely populated, as it winds through the Lincoln Village neighborhood, and the heavily industrialized Inner Harbor.

Milwaukee was founded to utilize a natural harbor formed by the confluence of rivers immediately before flowing into Lake Michigan, similar to Manistee, Michigan and Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Kinnickinnic River is the southernmost of the three rivers, flowing in a generally northeastern direction towards the harbor. The Menomonee River enters from the west, and the Milwaukee River enters from the north.

Originally, the Kinnickinnic River flowed almost directly into Lake Michigan, with water from the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers flowing south from the center of the city before exiting to the lake. The landform that protected the harbor was a long marshy spit, called Jones Island, that extended southwards from the center of the city. To shorten the distance from the harbor entrance to the city, a "straight cut" was made across the base of the spit, at the northern end. The original harbor entrance was filled in, so that Jones Island was now a peninsula extending northwards, with its base to the south. This effectively lengthened the river, and this new stretch now formed a large portion of the harbor.

...
Wikipedia