Wabash, << WAW bash, >> River is the best-known river in Indiana. It is 475 miles (764 kilometers) long. The Wabash rises in western Ohio and flows northwest into Indiana. It turns near Huntington and flows west and southwest until it joins the Ohio River in the southwestern corner of Indiana. The Wabash forms part of the boundary between Indiana and Illinois. The Wabash and its branches drain most of Indiana and a large area of Illinois. The river is mentioned in several songs, including Indiana’s state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”
Indians used the Wabash as a transportation route as early as the 1300’s. By the 1700’s, the Wabash was an important transportation route for French traders and colonial settlers. In the 1850’s, a new railroad system linked the major cities along the Wabash, and river transportation declined.
