Canadian River
Canadian | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Rocky Mountains |
• location | Las Animas County, Colorado |
• coordinates | 37°01′11″N 105°04′33″W / 37.01972°N 105.07583°W |
• elevation | 2,900 m (9,500 ft) |
Mouth | Arkansas River |
• location | Haskell County, Oklahoma |
• coordinates | 35°27′12″N 95°01′58″W / 35.45333°N 95.03278°W |
• elevation | 142 m (466 ft) |
Length | 1,026 mi (1,651 km) |
Basin size | 47,576 sq mi (123,220 km2) |
Discharge | |
• location | Whitefield, Oklahoma |
• average | 6,434 cu ft/s (182.2 m3/s) |
• minimum | 357 cu ft/s (10.1 m3/s) |
• maximum | 281,000 cu ft/s (8,000 m3/s) |
The Canadian River is the longest
The Canadian is sometimes referred to as the South Canadian River to differentiate it from the North Canadian River that flows into it.
Etymology
On
According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Spanish explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries called it the Rio Buenaventura and the Magdalena.[1] The upper part was called Rio Colorado by the Spanish.
A more recent explanation comes from
The name could be of Spanish origin from the word cañada (meaning "glen"), as the Canadian River formed a steep canyon in northern New Mexico and a somewhat broad canyon in Texas. A few historical records document that explanation. Edward Hale, writing in 1929, considered the French origin of the name most probable.[4] In fact, the river was regularly used by Canadian fur traders (such as Louis Feuilli and Jean Chapuis, as well as the Mallet Brothers) trying to establish contact with Santa Fe as early as 1752.[5]
History
The first European to explore the Canadian River was Juan de Oñate, the Spanish Governor of New Mexico, who followed the river from its origin to the western plains of what is now Oklahoma in 1601. Spanish traders and hunters were soon actively working in this area.[1] French voyageurs were active along the lower Canadian. Bénard de la Harpe explored between the mouth of the river and the Kiamichi Mountains in 1715. Pierre and Paul Mallet followed the entire length of the river in 1740, as did another expedition led by Fabry de la Bruyère in 1741.[a] The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 resulted in all of the land east of the New Mexico border being acquired by the United States.[1]
In 1818, the Quapaw tribe ceded all its land north of the Canadian to the United States, thus making this river the effective southern boundary of the new nation. In 1825, the Osage ceded their claims to land along the river. The Canadian was designated as the boundary between the Creek-Seminole lands on the north side and the Choctaw (and later the Chickasaw) on the south side. Major Stephen H. Long led an expedition up the Canadian River in 1821. He proclaimed the land along the river as the
The Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, made the Canadian River the northern boundary of the Choctaw Nation. Early immigrants to California followed the south bank of the Canadian to Santa Fe. In 1845 the river was explored by Lieutenants James William Abert and William G. Peck of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers.[6] Their journey was chronicled in the Journal of Lieutenant J.W. Abert from Bent's Fort to St. Louis, first published in 1846.
Randolph B. Marcy commanded a military expedition to lay out a trail along the Canadian River in 1849. The trail, which was thereafter called the California Road, followed the south side of the river and was soon followed by large numbers of emigrants to California via Santa Fe, especially after the 1849 discovery of gold in California. Travel along the road was sharply curtailed during the American Civil War, as Union and Confederate forces fought for control of Indian Territory.[1]
Lieutenant Amiel Weeks Whipple led an expedition in 1853 to find a railroad route across Indian Territory. It covered some of the same ground as that explored by Abert and Marcy. Whipple's group provided extensive reports about the region's flora and fauna. However, the group's cost estimates discouraged proponents from building a railroad along the proposed route. However, the cumulative reports of Abert, Marcy, and Whipple changed public opinion about "The Great American Desert" and encouraged interest in developing the region.[7]
In 1890, when Oklahoma Territory was proclaimed, the river formed part of the boundary between Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory.[1] This boundary was eradicated when the State of Oklahoma was created in 1907.
Course
The river rises on the east side of the
After rising in Colorado, the Canadian flows east-southeast across the New Mexico border, then south, passing west of
For most of its length, the Canadian is a slow-moving waterway bounded by red mud flats and quicksand. When sufficient rain has fallen, the river can carry substantial amounts of water. The river is now under the control of the Canadian River Commission.[1]
Images
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Canadian River Canyon in Kiowa National Grassland, Eastern New Mexico
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Wooden bridge over the Canadian River in Hemphill County, Texas
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Canadian River at Calvin, Oklahoma
Notes
See also
- List of Colorado rivers
- List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
- List of New Mexico rivers
- List of Oklahoma rivers
- List of Texas rivers
- Pecos River
- Rio Grande
- Brazos River
- White River (Texas)
- Double Mountain (Texas)
- Canadian, Texas
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dianna Everett, "Canadian River." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ^ Wright, Muriel H. "Some Geographic Names of French Origin in Oklahoma", Chronicles of Oklahoma, 7(2):188-193, June 1929.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
- ^ Hale, Edward E. "French Place-Names in New Mexico", French Review, 3(2):110-112, November 1929.
- ^ Alain Roy, “Sur la piste de Santa Fe, 1721-1880,” in La francophonie nord-américaine, ed. Yves Frenette, Étienne Rivard, and Marc St-Hilaire, Atlas historique du Québec (Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2012), 102, https://atlas.cieq.ca/la-francophonie-nord-americaine/la-francophonie-nord-americaine.pdf .
- ^ U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. "James William Abert 1820 - 1897". Archived 2015-08-01 at the Wayback Machine Accessed March 8, 2015.
- ^ Vernon L. Volpe, "Whipple Expedition." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture." Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Accessed March 8, 2015.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Canadian River
External links
- "Canadian River", Handbook of Texas Online
- Sketch of the Canadian River in A pictorial history of Texas by Thrall, H.S., Portal to Texas History, University of Texas.
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Canadian River
- Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
- New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
.
- The American Cyclopædia. 1879. .