Big Blue River (Kansas)

Big Blue River
Big Blue River above Manhattan, Kansas, December 2006
Map of the Kansas River drainage basin showing the Big Blue and Little Blue rivers
Native name	Great Blue Earth River (Kansa)
Location
Country	United States
State	Nebraska, Kansas
Region	Great Plains
Cities	Manhattan, KS, Beatrice, NE, Crete, NE, Seward, NE
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Near Aurora, NE, Great Plains, United States
• coordinates	40°57′00″N 098°04′31″W / 40.95000°N 98.07528°W / 40.95000; -98.07528[1]
Mouth	Kansas River
• location	Near Manhattan, Great Plains, United States
• coordinates	39°11′17″N 096°31′40″W / 39.18806°N 96.52778°W / 39.18806; -96.52778[1]
Length	359 mi (578 km), South[2]
Basin size	9,696 sq mi (25,110 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Manhattan, KS[4]
• average	982 cu ft/s (27.8 m3/s)[4]
• minimum	8 cu ft/s (0.23 m3/s)
• maximum	18,000 cu ft/s (510 m3/s)
Basin features
River system	Kansas River watershed
Tributaries
• left	Little Blue River, West Fork of the Little Blue River

The Big Blue River is the largest tributary of the Kansas River. The river flows for approximately 359 miles (578 km)^[2] from central Nebraska into Kansas, until its confluence with the Kansas River at Manhattan.

It was given its name by the Kansa tribe of Native Americans, who lived at its mouth from 1780 to 1830, and who called it the Great Blue Earth River.