The Verdigris is formed near Madison, Kansas, by the convergence of two short headwaters streams, its North and South forks, and flows generally southward throughout its course.

The area of convergence of the three rivers Arkansas, Verdigris and Neosho is called "Three Forks".

The river is also mentioned in the novel Little House on the Prairie (1935) by Laura Ingalls Wilder, of her memories when her family moved to Kansas from Wisconsin.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the name may be derived from a greenish substance also called verdigris, resembling a copper ore, which tinged the water.

[5] In 1994, Tom Paxton wrote and recorded a song: "Along the Verdigris", celebrating its rural tranquillity, on his album Wearing The Time.