The Kobuk River (Kuuvak in Iñupiaq) (also Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, or Putnam) is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately long. Draining a basin with an area of , the Kobuk River is among the largest rivers in northwest Alaska with widths of up to 1,500 feet (460 m) and flow at a speed of 3–5 miles per hour (5–8 km per hour) in its lower and middle reaches. The average elevation for the Kobuk River Basin is above sea level, ranging from near sea level to 11,400 feet (3,475 m). Topography includes low, rolling mountains, plains and lowlands, moderately high rugged mountainous land, and some gently sloped plateaus and highlands. The river contains an exceptional population of sheefish (Stenodus leucicthys), a large predatory whitefish within the salmon family, found throughout the Arctic that spawns in the river's upper reaches during the autumn. A portion of the vast Western Arctic Caribou Herd utilize the Kobuk river valley as winter range. Course It is commonly assumed that the Kobuk River issues from Walker Lake. However, the headwaters of the river are to the east of Walker Lake in the Endicott Mountains within the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, just north of the Arctic Circle. It flows briefly south, descending from the mountains through two spectacular canyons (Upper and Lower Kobuk Canyon), then flows generally west along the southern flank of the western Brooks Range in a broad wetlands valley. In the valley it passes a connected community of inland native villages, including Kobuk, Shungnak, and Ambler, where it receives the Ambler River. In the river's lower reaches, where it passes between the Baird and Waring mountains, it traverses Kobuk Valley National Park, the location of the Kobuk Sand Dunes. It then passes Kiana. The river enters its broad delta approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Kiana. The delta is located in The Hotham Inlet of the Kotzebue Sound approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Kotzebue. History The Kobuk's Inuit name Kuuvak means "great river". It was first transcribed by John Simpson in 1850 as "Kowuk." Explored by Lt. G. M. Stoney, USN, in 1883–1886, who wrote the name "Ku-buck," but proposed that it be called "Putnam" in honor of Master Charles Putnam, USN, officer of the Rodgers, who was carried to sea on the ice