The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Licking
river, c.320 mi (515 km) long, rising in E Ky. and flowing NW to the Ohio River opposite Cincinnati; the North and South Forks are its chief tributaries. The Licking was an important means of travel for Native Americans and pioneers and later a busy trade route. In 1780, at the rivers mouth, George Rogers Clarks frontiersmen gathered for their march up the Little Miami; the battle of Blue Licks (1782) occurred in the Licking valley. Covington and Newport are located where the river meets the Ohio.