Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario)
tributary of Lake Ontario in Oswego County, New York, United States
The Little Salmon River is a tributary of Lake Ontario located in Oswego County, New York. The river enters Lake Ontario approximately four miles (6.4 km) southwest from the mouth of the Salmon River.
The river was known by the Iroquois as Cas-son-ta-che-go-na, translated as "river of great bark" or "large pieces of bark lying down, ready for building". In addition to its current name, the stream was historically known as Salmon Creek or Little Salmon Creek. The current name was officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1905.
Course
The Little Salmon River drains an approximately 85-square-mile (220 km2) watershed, which is primarily agricultural and residential in nature.
The headwaters of the north branch of the Little Salmon River begin in Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area. The confluence of the north and south branches of the Little Salmon River is in the eastern part of the town of Mexico, west of the village of Parish. From there, the river flows northwest through the village of Mexico and the hamlet of Texas before emptying into Lake Ontario at Mexico Point State Park.
Sportfishing
The lower Little Salmon River provides habitat for a variety of resident fish species, including brown bullhead, white suckers, rock bass, largemouth bass, and northern pike.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario)” as tributary of Lake Ontario in Oswego County, New York, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as tributary of Lake Ontario in Oswego County, New York, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24061075. Authority coordinates are 43.524, -76.259. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1905.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario) primary sources, Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario) archive and Little research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario)”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Little Salmon River (Lake Ontario)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.