Lost Creek is a stream in

Newton County, Missouri Newton County is a County (United States), county located in the southwest portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,648. Its county seat is Neosho, Missouri, Neosho. The coun ...

and

Ottawa County, Oklahoma Ottawa County is a county located in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,285. Its county seat is Miami. The county was named for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. It is also the locat ...

. It is a tributary to the Spring River. The stream

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

arise three miles west of

Neosho, Missouri Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 census, the city is a part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Area, ...

''Neosho West, MO'', 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1972 (1986 rev.) at at an elevation of approximately 1180 feet. The stream flows to the west-northwest and turns to the southwest as it passes south of the community of

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

. The stream continues to the southwest passing through

Seneca, Missouri Seneca is a city in western Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,336 at the 2010 census. Located on the southwestern border of the state, the city is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Se ...

and enters eastern Oklahoma. The stream flows southwest parallel to

U.S. Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

. The stream enters the Spring River within the waters of the Grand Lake of the Cherokees just west of Wyandotte. The confluence was at and an elevation of 741 feet (prior to the lake creation). The name Lost Creek was given by early settlers due to the difficulty they had locating the stream based on earlier descriptions of the stream and the area.The Missouri State Historical Society: Newton County Place Names, 1928-1945
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References

Rivers of Newton County, Missouri Rivers of Missouri Rivers of Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-river-stub