Cottonwood River (Kansas)
[5] The South Cottonwood also starts near the west line of Marion County, flows southward about 1 mile west of Lehigh, then flows eastward about 2 miles south of Hillsboro, then northeast towards the lower side of the Marion Reservoir.[5] The river flows southeast to Florence, then eastward towards Chase County.[7] In Chase County, it flows northeast through Cedar Point then near Clements and Elmdale.It merges with the North Fork Cottonwood River about 3 miles east of Cottonwood Falls[7] then flows eastward near Saffordville and across into Lyon County near Plymouth, Kansas, then along the south edge of Emporia.[8] In 1806, Zebulon Pike led the Pike Expedition westward from St Louis, Missouri, of which part of their journey followed the Cottonwood River through Marion County near the current towns of Florence, Marion, Durham.