Cow Creek (Kansas)

Cow Creek
Big Cow Creek
Location
CountryUnited States
StateKansas
RegionGreat Plains
CityHutchinson, KS
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationNear Beaver, KS, Great Plains, Kansas, United States
  coordinates38°38′37″N 098°39′10″W / 38.64361°N 98.65278°W / 38.64361; -98.65278
  elevation1,483 ft (452 m)
MouthArkansas River
  location
Hutchinson, Kansas, United States
  coordinates
37°58′47″N 097°50′24″W / 37.97972°N 97.84000°W / 37.97972; -97.84000
  elevation
452 ft (138 m)
Length112 mi (180 km), East
Basin size859.5 sq mi (2,226 km2)
Discharge 
  locationHutchinson
  average1,230 cu ft/s (35 m3/s)
Basin features
River systemArkansas River watershed

Cow Creek is a 112-mile-long (180 km) stream that flows through Rice and Reno Counties, Kansas. Cow Creek is a tributary of the Arkansas River; its confluence with the Arkansas is about ten miles southeast of Hutchinson, Kansas.

In the 1850s, Buffalo Bill Mathewson ran a trading post (known as "Buffalo Bill's Well") where the Santa Fe Trail crossed Cow Creek. From Lyons, Kansas, the well is located four miles west and one mile south.