Meanings
alternative Two-Hearted River
- A river in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, which runs for 23.6 miles (38.0 km) through forested wilderness, and drains into Lake Superior.
[…] was not the Two-Hearted River that does flow in that country but the Fox River. H. Lea Lawrence, in his book retracing Hemingway's fishing haunts, feels certain not only that the Fox was the river in question but[…]
2014 August 27, Mark Browning, Haunted by Waters: Fly Fishing in North American Literature, Ohio University Press, →ISBN4 more examples
The wetland is in a low valley formed by the changing path of the Two Hearted River. On either side of the valley is a steep wall of about 25 feet. […] No streams flow through the wetland, but the Two Hearted River flows past […]
1981, FWS/OBS., page 261Mouth of the Two Hearted River Lake Superior State Forest When author Ernest Hemingway began writing a short story about his fishing experiences on the Fox River near Seney, he decided the river's name was not poetic enough. So he replaced it with the Two Hearted even though most historians believe he never came close to seeing the actual river whose name he appropriated. […] The Two Hearted is Michigan's only designated wilderness river […] In 1876, the Two Hearted River Life-Saving Station was built on the spit and manned by volunteer crews. […] The spit at the mouth of the Two Hearted River […]
2005, Jim DuFresne, The Complete Guide to Michigan Sand Dunes, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 167[…] before the Two-Hearted River veers south. Even if not the actual inspiration for Hemingway's story, the Two-Hearted River clearly fired his imagination, as did the landscape through which both the river and trail pass.
2013 April 30, Ron Strickland, North Country Trail Association, The North Country Trail: The Best Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips on America’s Longest National Scenic Trail, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 149The article [in a men's magazine] was supposed to describe fishing in the Two Hearted River, but instead it focused on a local who'd begun exploiting that law, creating an annual town spectacle in the process. That local was Donnie Sarver.
2015 April 15, Adam Schuitema, Haymaker, Cornell University Press, →ISBN
Origin
Uncertain. Suggestions include: * The river has distinct 'northern' and 'eastern' branches, "two hearts pumping to form the main river". (However, each of these branches is further subdivided, and there is also a 'western' branch.) * One branch draws from the Two Hearted Lakes, which have fancifully been considered heart-shaped. However, they are not really heart-shaped, and may (like the Little Two Hearted Lakes slightly further east) derive their name from the river. * The name may reference some quality of the area's inhabitants. For example, it has been suggested that they were so generous people said they "had two hearts".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Two Hearted River. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Hearted%20River
“Two Hearted River.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Hearted%20River. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Two Hearted River,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Hearted%20River.
Source: Two Hearted River on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.