The Cimarron River ( ; iow, Ñíxgu, script=Latn or , meaning 'Salt River'; chy, Hotóao'hé'e) extends across
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, and
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. The headwaters flow from
Johnson Mesa west of
Folsom Folsom may refer to:
People
* Folsom (surname)
Places in the United States
* Folsom, Perry County, Alabama
* Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama
* Folsom, California
* Folsom, Georgia
* Folsom, Louisiana
* Folsom, Missouri
* Folsom, New Jerse ...
in northeastern New Mexico. Much of the river's length lies in Oklahoma, where it either borders or passes through eleven counties. There are no major cities along its route. The river enters the
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...
near
Kenton, Oklahoma
Kenton is a town in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. Kenton is the westernmost town in Oklahoma. From Kenton, it is approximately south to Amarillo, Texas, northwest to Colorado Springs, Colorado, northwest to Denver, Colorado, south ...
, crosses the southeastern corner of Colorado into Kansas, reenters the Oklahoma Panhandle, reenters Kansas, and finally returns to Oklahoma where it joins the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
at
Keystone Reservoir west of
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, its only impoundment. The Cimarron drains a basin that encompasses about .
[Larry O'Dell, "Cimarron River," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.''](_blank)
Accessed March 6, 2015.
Names and etymology
The river's present name comes from the early Spanish name, , which is usually translated as 'River of the Wild Sheep'; previous English names for the river include Grand Saline, Jefferson (in John Melish's 1820 U.S. map), Red Fork, and Salt Fork.
Description
In northeastern New Mexico and in far western Oklahoma, the river is known as the Dry Cimarron River. The Dry Cimarron is not completely dry, but sometimes its water entirely disappears under the sand in the river bed. The Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway follows the river from Folsom to the Oklahoma border. The waterway becomes simply the Cimarron River after being joined by
Carrizozo Creek just inside the Oklahoma border, west of
Kenton, Oklahoma
Kenton is a town in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. Kenton is the westernmost town in Oklahoma. From Kenton, it is approximately south to Amarillo, Texas, northwest to Colorado Springs, Colorado, northwest to Denver, Colorado, south ...
.
[ Carrizozo Creek also originates in New Mexico and exits into Oklahoma before re-entering New Mexico and then returning to Oklahoma before joining the river.]
In Oklahoma it is further joined by North Carrizo Creek north-northeast of Kenton, Tesesquite Creek further to the east of Kenton, and South Carrizo Creek yet further to the east. It additionally joins with Cold Springs Creek, Ute Canyon Creek, and Flagg Springs Creek before crossing into Kansas. The river flows along the southern edges of Black Mesa, Oklahoma's highest point. As it first crosses the Kansas border, the river flows through the Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which i ...
.
At Guthrie, the river is joined by Cottonwood Creek (Cimarron River tributary)
Cottonwood Creek is a stream that flows from rural Canadian County through portions of Logan County until it reaches its mouth at the Cimarron River, northwest of Guthrie.
Significant tributaries of Cottonwood Creek include Chisholm Creek and ...
, at a site known for frequent flooding.
The Cimarron's water quality is rated as poor because the river flows through natural mineral deposits, salt plains, and saline springs, where it dissolves large amounts of minerals. It also collects quantities of red soil, which it carries to its terminus. Before the Keystone Dam was built, this silt was sufficient to discolor the Arkansas River downstream.
Early explorers
The first Europeans to see the Cimarron River were apparently Spanish conquistadores
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
in 1541. The Spanish seem to have done little to exploit the area. The Osage tribe claimed most of the territory west of the confluence of the Cimarron and the Arkansas. In 1819 Thomas Nuttall explored the lower Cimarron and wrote a report describing the flora and fauna that he found there. In 1821 Mexico threw off Spanish rule and William Becknell opened the Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
.
Historical notes of interest
*One branch of the Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
, known variously as the Cimarron Route, the Cimarron Cutoff, and the Middle Crossing (of the Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
), ran through the Cimarron Desert and then along the Cimarron River. Lower Cimarron Spring on the riverbank was an important watering and camping spot.
*In 1831 Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
Indians killed Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and ...
(a famous hunter, trapper, and explorer) on the Santa Fe Trail near the Cimarron River. His body was never recovered.
*In 1834 General Henry Leavenworth established Camp Arbuckle (Fort Arbuckle) at the mouth of the Cimarron River. Later known as Old Fort Arbuckle, it was active for only about a year, and its former site is now submerged beneath the Arkansas River. It should not be confused with the later Fort Arbuckle in Garvin County, Oklahoma
Garvin County is a county in south-central Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,576. Its county seat is Pauls Valley. In 1906, delegates to Constitution Convention formed Garvin County from part of the Chickas ...
.
*Historic sites along the river include the ruins of Camp Nichols
Camp Nichols, also known as Fort Nichols or Camp Nichols Ranch, was a short-lived historic fortification located in present-day Cimarron County, Oklahoma, about northwest of the community of Wheeless, Oklahoma. It was built by New Mexico and Calif ...
, a stone fort Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...
built in 1865 to protect travelers from raids by Plains Indians
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...
on the Cimarron Cutoff. It was near present-day Wheeless, Oklahoma
Wheeless is an unincorporated community in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. The post office was established February 12, 1907, and discontinued September 27, 1963. Nearby are the ruins of Camp Nichols, a military encampment on the Santa ...
.
*The old Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and rancher, and his friend Jesse Chisholm, a Cheroke ...
crossed the river at Red Fork Station near present-day Dover, Oklahoma
Dover is a town in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 464 at the 2010 census. a 26.4 percent gain over the figure of 367 in 2000.
History
The area around Dover was ideal for cattle grazing, By 1884, all the land had be ...
.
*In the 1890s the Creek Nation Cave along the Cimarron River near Ingalls in the Oklahoma Territory, was a hideout for the Doolin gang, which included the teenage bandits Cattle Annie
Anna Emmaline McDoulet, known as Cattle Annie (November 29, 1882 – November 7, 1978), was a young American outlaw in the American Old West, most associated with Jennie Stevens, or Little Britches (outlaw), Little Britches. Their exploits ar ...
and Little Britches.
*On September 18, 1906, a bridge across the Cimarron near Dover, Oklahoma Territory, collapsed beneath a Rock Island train bound for Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
from Chicago. The bridge was a temporary structure unable to withstand the pressure of debris and high water. The railroad had delayed replacing it with a permanent structure for financial reasons. Several sources report that over 100 people were killed, but the figure is disputed. The true number may be as low as four.
Notes
See also
*List of rivers of Colorado
This is a list of streams in the U.S. State of Colorado.
__TOC__
Alphabetical list
The following alphabetical list includes many important streams that flow through the State of Colorado, including all 158 named rivers. Where available, t ...
*List of rivers of Kansas
This is a list of rivers in Kansas (U.S. state).
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Mississippi River Basin
Arkansas River Basin
*Arkansas River
* ...
*List of rivers of New Mexico
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*List of rivers of Oklahoma
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, listed by drainage basin, alphabetically, and by size. In mean flow of water per second, the Arkansas River, Arkansas is Oklahoma's largest river, followed by the Red River of the South ...
*List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
The longest rivers of the United States include 38 that have main stems of at least long. The main stem is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines a main- ...
*Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which i ...
* Folsom Falls
* Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...
(NWR)
* Point of Rocks (Kansas)
*Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
References
Further reading
*Anshutz, Carrie W. Schmoker; M.W. (Doc) Anshutz. ''Cimarron Chronicles: Saga of the Open Range''. Meade, Kansas: Ohnick Enterprises, 2003.
*Dary, David. ''The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends, and Lore''. New York: Penguin, 2002 (Reissue).
*Hanners, Laverne; Ed Lord. ''The Lords of the Valley: Including the Complete Text of Our Unsheltered Lives''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
*Hoig, Stan. ''Beyond the Frontier: Exploring the Indian Country''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
*Schumm, Stanley A. ''Channel Widening and Flood-Plain Construction along Cimarron River in Southwestern Kansas: Erosion and Sedimentation in a Semiarid Environment''. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1963. ISBN B0007EFJLY
*Schumm, Stanley A. ''River Variability and Complexity''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
*Stovall, John Willis. ''Geology of the Cimarron River Valley in Cimarron County, Oklahoma''. Chicago, 1938.
*Woodhouse, S. W. (Eds. John S. Tomer, Michael J. Brodhead). ''A Naturalist in Indian Territory: The Journals of S.W. Woodhouse, 1849–50'' (The American Exploration and Travel Series, Vol 72). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
External links
*
Santa Fe Trail Research Site
Mouth of the Cimarron
TopoQuest.
Headwaters of the Cimarron
TopoQuest.
Cimarron National Grassland
USDA Forest Service.
Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway
New Mexico Historic Markers.
''(Eco-History Trails and Tales)''
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' – Cimarron River
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control
Rivers of New Mexico
Rivers of Oklahoma
Rivers of Colorado
Rivers of Kansas
Tributaries of the Arkansas River
Rivers of Colfax County, New Mexico
Rivers of Union County, New Mexico
Rivers of Creek County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Osage County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Pawnee County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Tulsa County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Payne County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Logan County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Blaine County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Major County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Woods County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Woodward County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Harper County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Beaver County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Baca County, Colorado
Rivers of Clark County, Kansas
Rivers of Comanche County, Kansas
Rivers of Meade County, Kansas
Rivers of Seward County, Kansas
Rivers of Haskell County, Kansas
Rivers of Grant County, Kansas
Rivers of Stevens County, Kansas
Rivers of Morton County, Kansas