Fourche Maline is a winding 70-mile tributary of the Poteau River in eastern Oklahoma, rising in the Sans Bois Mountains and flowing through Robbers Cave State Park before reaching the Poteau in Le Flore County, where its original confluence now lies beneath Lake Wister. Its French name has been translated as “treacherous fork” and “Bad Fork,” reflecting its reputation as a difficult or hazardous stream for early travelers. In the era of Indian Territory, it also served as the boundary between Skullyville County and Sugar Loaf County in the Choctaw Nation’s Moshulatubbee District. Today it is known as a fishing stream, especially for winter trout below Carlton Lake Dam.