Poteau River

Poteau River
Country	United States
Basin features
Main source	Waldron, Arkansas
River mouth	Fort Smith, Arkansas
Physical characteristics
Length	141 mi (227 km)

The Poteau River is a 141-mile (227 km) long river located in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. It is the only river in Oklahoma that flows north and is the seventh largest river in the state. It is a tributary of the Arkansas River, which itself is a tributary of the Mississippi River.

Poteau is the French word for "post" and it is believed that the river was named by French explorers who used a post or stake to mark the mouth of the river. The nearby city of Poteau, Oklahoma takes its name from the river.

The Poteau River originates 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Bee Mountain near Waldron, Arkansas, and converges with the Arkansas River at Belle Point in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where it serves as a border between the two states for a short distance. Tributaries of the Poteau River include the Fourche Maline, Brazil and Sans Bois Creeks. Notable towns located along the river, in order from source to mouth, include Wister, Heavener, Poteau, Panama, Spiro, Fort Coffee (all in Oklahoma) and Fort Smith in Arkansas.

Lake Wister is a reservoir created by the damming of the Poteau River near river mile 70 by Wister Dam which was built in December 1949. Lake Wister State Park has since been built around the reservoir. The lake and dam both take their name from the nearby town of Wister, Oklahoma.

Numerous runestones have been found in Oklahoma and are believed by locals to be the works of Viking explorers who traveled up the Poteau River after navigating the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, respectively. The evidence surrounding these claims is sparse and inconsistent, however.

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Wikipedia