Red River

1 River, 1,222 mi (1,967 km) long, southernmost of the large tributaries of the Mississippi River. It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows SE between Texas and Oklahoma and between Texas and Arkansas to Fulton, Ark. It then turns southward, enters Louisiana, and crosses SE to the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi rivers. In Texas it flows rapidly through a canyon in semiarid plains, but later in its course it waters rich red-clay farm lands (whence the name Red). Dams on the river include the Denison Dam (completed 1943), which impounds Lake Texoma, one of the largest reservoirs in the United States. For many years navigation was difficult on the lower course of the Red River due to fallen trees that floated downstream and collected behind obstructions, forming rafts. The Great Raft, a 160-mi (257-km) log-jam built through the centuries, was cleared from the river in the mid-1800s. The river is now navigable for small ships to above Natchitoches, La. There are many lakes along the lower part of the river, and reservoirs serve as flood-control units on its tributaries.

2 River, often called the
Red River of the North,
c.310 mi (500 km) long, formed N of Lake Traverse, NE S.Dak., by the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and the Otter Tail rivers. It flows N between Minnesota and North Dakota and crosses the Canadian border into Manitoba, emptying into Lake Winnipeg. The river drains the principal spring wheat-growing area of the United States and Canada—the rich Red River valley region, the bed of the ancient Lake Agassiz. Its chief tributary is the Assiniboine River.

For other uses, see Red River.

The Red River is one of several rivers with that name. It rises in two branches (forks) in the Texas Panhandle and flows east along the border of Texas and Oklahoma, and briefly between Texas and Arkansas. At Fulton, Arkansas, the river turns south into Louisiana to empty into the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers. The total length of this journey is 2189 km (1360 mi). The river gains its name from the red-clay farmland of its watershed. Since 1943 the Red River has been dammed by Denison Dam to form Lake Texoma, a large reservoir of 360 km² (89,000 acres), some 113 km (70 mi) north of Dallas. Other reservoirs serve as flood control on the river's tributaries. The Red is a large river, with a mean flow of over 7000 ft³/s.

Much of the river's length in Louisiana was unnavigable in the early 19th century due to a collection of fallen trees that formed a "Great Raft" over 257 km (160 mi) long. Captain Henry Miller Shreve cleared the logjam in 1839. The river was thereafter navigable only for small craft north of Natchitoches.

The interest group known as the Red River Valley Association was formed to lobby the United States Congress to make the river fully navigable between Alexandria and Shreveport. Leading supporters of the longstanding project were Louisiana Democratic senators, Allen J. Ellender, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. and Russell B. Long, Louisiana's former Fourth District Congressman Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr., and the late Shreveport Mayor Littleberry Calhoun Allen, Jr. This project has been completed, and a lock system now allows navigation of barge traffic as far north as Shreveport.

Due to a cartographic error, the land between the north and south forks was claimed by both the state of Texas and the federal government. Originally called Greer County, Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it belonged to the federal government, which at the time oversaw the Oklahoma Territory. That territory was later incorporated into the state of Oklahoma, whose southern border now follows the south fork.

That southern fork, which is about 193 km (120 mi), is generally called the Prairie Dog Town Fork. It is formed in Randall County, Texas near the county seat of Canyon, by the confluence of intermittent Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek. (The names mean "Hard Wood" and "White Land", respectively, in Spanish.) It flows east-southeast, through Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, then past Newlin, Texas, to meet the Oklahoma state line. From there eastward, it is usually referred to as the Red River, even before meeting the north fork.

See also

• List of Arkansas rivers
• List of Louisiana rivers
• List of Oklahoma rivers
• List of Texas rivers

References

• Tyson, Carl N. The Red River in Southwestern History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1981. ISBN 0-8061-1659-5

External links

• Exploration of the Red River, by Randolph Marcy, 1852, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Red River from the Handbook of Texas Online

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