Editing Tug Fork

{{short description|River in the Eastern United States}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Tug Fork
| name_native        = 
| name_native_lang   = 
| name_other         = 
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Tug Fork River - southeast of Matewan, West Virginia.jpg
| image_size         = 275
| image_caption      = Tug Fork seen southeast of [[Matewan, West Virginia]]
| map                = Bigsandyrivermap.png
| map_size           = 300
| map_caption        = Map of the [[Big Sandy River (Ohio River)|Big Sandy River]] watershed, with its [[Levisa Fork]] (left) and Tug Fork (right) tributaries shown
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 300
| pushpin_map_caption= 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type2  = State
| subdivision_name2  = [[Kentucky]], [[Virginia]], [[West Virginia]]
| subdivision_type3  = Counties
| subdivision_name3  = [[McDowell County, West Virginia|McDowell WV]], [[Buchanan County, Virginia|Buchanan VA]], [[Pike County, Kentucky|Pike KY]], [[Mingo County, West Virginia|Mingo WV]], [[Martin County, Kentucky|Martin KY]], [[Lawrence County, Kentucky|Lawrence KY]], [[Wayne County, West Virginia|Wayne WV]]
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = 
| subdivision_name5  = 
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{convert|159|mi|km|abbr=on}} 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location= [[Kermit, West Virginia|Kermit]], [[West Virginia]]<ref name="USGS Discharge: Kermit, WV">
                               {{cite web
                               | url           = http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?03214500
                               | title         = USGS 03214500 TUG FORK AT KERMIT, WV
                               | work          = National Water Information System
                               | accessdate    = 2008-04-24
                               | publisher     = [[U.S. Geological Survey]]
                               }}
</ref>
| discharge1_min     = {{convert|14|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_avg     = {{convert|1457|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max     = {{convert|35400|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = Big Stone Ridge
| source1_location   = [[McDowell County, West Virginia|McDowell County]], [[West Virginia]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|37|16|38|N|81|26|06|W|display=inline}}<ref name="GNIS Tug Fork">{{cite gnis|id=1548311|name=Tug Fork|accessdate=2004-04-24}}</ref>
| source1_elevation  = {{convert|2604|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="USGS Elevation: Tug Fork Source">
                               {{cite web
 |url        = http://gisdata.usgs.gov/XMLWebServices/TNM_Elevation_Service.asmx/getElevation?X_Value=-81.435&Y_Value=37.277222&Elevation_Units=FEET&Source_Layer=-1&Elevation_Only=FALSE
 |title      = Tug Fork Source
 |work       = Elevation Query
 |accessdate = 2008-04-24
 |publisher  = [[U.S. Geological Survey]]
}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}
</ref>
| mouth              = [[Big Sandy River (Ohio River)|Big Sandy River]]
| mouth_location     = [[Louisa, Kentucky|Louisa]], [[Kentucky]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|38|07|05|N|82|36|06|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS Tug Fork" />
| mouth_elevation    = {{convert|545|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="GNIS Tug Fork" />
| progression        = 
| river_system       = 
| basin_size         = 
| tributaries_left   = [[Big Creek (Tug Fork)|Big Creek]], [[Dry Fork (Tug Fork)|Dry Fork]], [[Panther Creek (Tug Fork)|Panther Creek]], [[Peter Creek (Tug Fork)|Peter Creek]], [[Pond Creek (Tug Fork)|Pond Creek]], [[Turkey Creek (Tug Fork)|Turkey Creek]]
| tributaries_right  = [[Elkhorn Creek (Tug Fork)|Elkhorn Creek]], [[Mate Creek]], [[Pigeon Creek (West Virginia)|Pigeon Creek]], [[Marrowbone Creek (West Virginia)|Marrowbone Creek]], [[Jennie Creek]]
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
| extra              = 
}}
The '''Tug Fork''' is a [[tributary]] of the [[Big Sandy River (Ohio River)|Big Sandy River]], {{convert|159|mi}} long,<ref name=NHD>U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map], accessed June 13, 2011</ref> in southwestern [[West Virginia]], [[Southwest Virginia|southwestern]] [[Virginia]], and eastern [[Kentucky]] in the [[United States]]. Via the Big Sandy and [[Ohio River|Ohio]] rivers, it is part of the [[drainage basin|watershed]] of the [[Mississippi River]].

It is also known as the '''Tug Fork River''' or the '''Tug River'''.  The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]] settled on "Tug Fork" as the stream's official name in 1975.<ref name= "GNIS Tug Fork"/>

The Tug Fork rises in the [[Appalachian Mountains]] of extreme southwestern West Virginia, in southern [[McDowell County, West Virginia|McDowell County]], near the Virginia state line. It flows in a [[meander]]ing course through the mountains generally northwest, past [[Welch, West Virginia|Welch]]. Approximately {{convert|20|mi}} northwest of Welch, it briefly forms approximately {{convert|4|mi|0}} of the state line between West Virginia (northeast) and Virginia (southwest). For the remainder of its course it forms part of the boundary between West Virginia (east) and Kentucky (west), flowing northwest past [[Williamson, West Virginia]]. It joins the [[Levisa Fork]] at [[Louisa, Kentucky]] to form the Big Sandy.

The river flows through an especially remote mountainous region in its upper course. The river valley between [[Pike County, Kentucky]] and [[Mingo County, West Virginia]] was the scene of the infamous [[Hatfield–McCoy feud]] in the late 19th century.

[[Toponymy|Toponymist]] [[George R. Stewart]] writes about the origin of the name "Tug Fork". In 1756 a small army of Virginians and Cherokees conducted the [[Sandy Creek Expedition]] against the [[Shawnee]]. At one point they killed and ate two buffaloes and hung their hides on a tree. Later they returned and, being out of provisions, took the hides and cut them into thin strips called "tugs". These they roasted and ate.<ref name = "Pendleton">[https://books.google.com/books?id=KiQSAAAAYAAJ Pendleton, William Cecil, "Chapter V: The Sandy Expedition," in ''History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia: 1748-1920.'' W. C. Hill printing Company, 1920.]</ref>{{rp|218–223}}  For this reason, the story goes, the stream was given the name "Tug."  Stewart also points out another possible origin.  Even if the story is true, the second explanation may have reinforced the name. In the Cherokee language "tugulu" refers to the forks of a stream, as in the [[Tugaloo River]] and other streams in former Cherokee lands named "tug".<ref>[[George R. Stewart]]. ''Names on the Land''. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston (1967).</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Lewis|title=History of Kentucky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5FQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA459|year=1877|page=459|isbn=9780722249208 }}</ref>

==See also==

{{Portal|Kentucky|West Virginia}}
*[[List of Kentucky rivers]]
*[[List of Virginia rivers]]
*[[List of West Virginia rivers]]
*[[River borders of U.S. states]]
*[[Martin County Sludge Spill]]

==References==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa043000a.htm Hatfield-McCoy: Reunion of the Millennium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919193923/http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa043000a.htm |date=2016-09-19 }}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of Kentucky]]
[[Category:Rivers of Virginia]]
[[Category:Rivers of West Virginia]]
[[Category:Borders of West Virginia]]
[[Category:Borders of Kentucky]]
[[Category:Rivers of Wayne County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Rivers of Mingo County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Rivers of McDowell County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Buchanan County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pike County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Rivers of Martin County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Rivers of Lawrence County, Kentucky]]