river rising in the Blue Ridge Mountains (Blue Ridge), west-central South Carolina, U.S., in North and South forks, which join 10 miles (15 km) northwest of Greenville. The main stream flows southeastward past Pelzer and, after a course of approximately 145 miles (235 km), joins the Broad River at Columbia to form the Congaree River. Saluda Dam (1930) impounds Lake Murray above Columbia, and Buzzard Roost Dam (1940) impounds Lake Greenwood. Both are used for hydroelectric power. The river is named for the Algonquian-speaking Indian tribe that occupied the lower reaches of the river in the 1670s. The name itself is an Indian word, probably meaning “river of corn.”