McGee Creek's headwaters may be traced to various points north and west of the unincorporated community of Wesley, Oklahoma.
Tributaries, from south to north, include Medicine, Blue, Cat, Potapo, Panther, Bog Springs, Bear, Bugaboo, Little Caney, Grassy, Greasy, Ray, Ingersol, Doyal, and Nolleytubby creeks.
No information regarding the length of the creek, volume of water it carries, or officially determined point of origin, if any, is available.
In addition to the dam, a significant dike was constructed to block several small "saddles" on the west side of the reservoir rim.
[4] French fur trappers and traders named the most significant rivers and waterways in eastern Oklahoma during the 1700s.
This was a corruption of the French word vaseaux, which meant boggy or "miry", because of the deep mud or mire in the channel bottom.
The name “McGee Creek” first appears on official maps during the late 1890s, along with those of its principal tributaries.
[7] Its present-day name is thought to be derived from that of local farmer Charles McGee, who lived on the bank of the creek during the latter days of the Indian Territory.