Frenchman River (Gros Ventre: níhʔɔɔtóóúníícááh, lit.'White person river'), also known as Frenchman Creek and Whitemud River, is a river in Saskatchewan, Canada, and Montana, United States. It is a tributary of the Milk River, itself a tributary of the Missouri and, in turn, part of the Mississippi River watershed, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The river is approximately 341 kilometers (212mi) long.
Name
The origin of the name of the Frenchman River is uncertain, although both Métis and francophone settlers inhabited its banks at the turn of the 20th century. In Montana, it is called Frenchman Creek. Locally, it is often referred to as Whitemud River due to the abundance of white clay in the region.
Frenchman River Valley in Grasslands National Park
The headwaters are found in Cypress Lake, in the Cypress Hills, at an elevation of 975 meters (3,199ft). It flows east towards the community of Eastend, then turns south-east. Various reservoirs are built on its course (Eastend Reservoir, Huff Lake, and Newton Lake) and the river is used extensively for irrigation. The river becomes meandered as it flows through the Grasslands National Park. Several creeks, such as Breed Creek, Little Breed Creek, and Otter Creek, flow into the Frenchman River from the Wood Mountain Hills. After the national park and the hills, the river turns south into Montana, where it flows into the Milk River, in Phillips County, Montana, north of Saco.
