sentences:  The river's name possibly derives from a translation of the Shawnee name for the river, "We-thau-ka-mik", meaning "yellow waters", a description perhaps owing to the presence of sand in the riverbed.Significant portions of the Yellow River's course have been straightened and channelized; the river's present-day course is considered to begin at a confluence of agricultural ditches in southeastern St. Joseph County, approximately north of the town of Bremen.The river initially flows southwardly into Marshall County, past Bremen; then generally southwestwardly, returning to its naturally winding riverbed and flowing through the city of Plymouth; and westwardly in a substantially straightened course through Starke County, past the city of Knox.