Bonpas Creek is a tributary of the Wabash River in Illinois.[1] It rises to the east of Olney in Richland County, Illinois. Flowing south, it forms the boundary between Edwards and Wabash counties. The creek is 58.4 miles (94.0 km) long.[2] It joins the Wabash near Grayville, Illinois. In the last 2 miles (3 km) of its watercourse, it occupies part of a former Wabash oxbow bend. As such, the creek now also forms part of the state boundary between White County, Illinois, and Gibson County, Indiana, as flows past Grayville in the former channel.
The name is derived from the early French settlers of the Illinois Country. The name probably means "good steps" or "good path". The name is pronounced locally as "Bom Paw".
Other locals such as those in nearby villages of Bone Gap, Browns, Bellmont and southern Illinois communities pronounce the name as Bum-paw, with the emphasis on the Bum. This pronunciation, though not completely true to the original French, is still much closer to the correct way to say the name. A legend about how Bum-paw got its name tells of an early pioneer father traveling in his wagon across the creek with his young son from their cabin to a nearby settlement. The father it is told gets his wagon and team of horses stuck in the creek. As he wades into the water it is said the young son is saying, "Bum-paw, Bum-paw" as the father pulls the team of horses and wagon across the creek.
^U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bonpas Creek
^U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 19, 2011
External links
Prairie Rivers Network
USGS Real-Time Stream Gage, Bonpas Creek
Surfing the Lower Wabash with USEPA
August 23, 2023
bonpas, creek, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2021, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Bonpas Creek news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Bonpas Creek is a tributary of the Wabash River in Illinois 1 It rises to the east of Olney in Richland County Illinois Flowing south it forms the boundary between Edwards and Wabash counties The creek is 58 4 miles 94 0 km long 2 It joins the Wabash near Grayville Illinois In the last 2 miles 3 km of its watercourse it occupies part of a former Wabash oxbow bend As such the creek now also forms part of the state boundary between White County Illinois and Gibson County Indiana as flows past Grayville in the former channel Bonpas CreekPhysical characteristicsSource locationRichland County west of Olney Illinois coordinates38 44 36 N 87 58 44 W 38 7433808 N 87 9789235 W 38 7433808 87 9789235 Bonpas Creek origin Mouth locationConfluence with the Wabash River in Grayville Illinois coordinates38 15 28 N 87 59 23 W 38 2578248 N 87 9897546 W 38 2578248 87 9897546 Bonpas Creek mouth elevation361 ft 110 m Length58 mi 93 km Basin featuresProgressionBonpas Creek Wabash Ohio Mississippi Gulf of MexicoGNIS ID404691Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates The name is derived from the early French settlers of the Illinois Country The name probably means good steps or good path The name is pronounced locally as Bom Paw Other locals such as those in nearby villages of Bone Gap Browns Bellmont and southern Illinois communities pronounce the name as Bum paw with the emphasis on the Bum This pronunciation though not completely true to the original French is still much closer to the correct way to say the name A legend about how Bum paw got its name tells of an early pioneer father traveling in his wagon across the creek with his young son from their cabin to a nearby settlement The father it is told gets his wagon and team of horses stuck in the creek As he wades into the water it is said the young son is saying Bum paw Bum paw as the father pulls the team of horses and wagon across the creek See also EditList of Illinois riversReferences Edit U S Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System Bonpas Creek U S Geological Survey National Hydrography Dataset high resolution flowline data The National Map Archived 2012 03 29 at the Wayback Machine accessed May 19 2011External links EditPrairie Rivers Network USGS Real Time Stream Gage Bonpas Creek Surfing the Lower Wabash with USEPA Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bonpas Creek amp oldid 1095493414, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
