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The Concho River is a river in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. ''Concho'' is
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
for "shell"; the river was so named due to its abundance of freshwater
mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s, such as the Tampico pearly mussel (''
Cyrtonaias ''Cyrtonaias'' is a genus of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve mollusks in the family Unionidae The Unionidae are a family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or s ...
tampicoensis'').


Geography

The Concho River has three primary feeds: the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
, Middle, and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
Concho Rivers. The North Concho River is the longest fork, starting in Howard County and traveling southeast for until merging with the South and Middle forks near
Goodfellow Air Force Base Goodfellow Air Force Base is a nonflying United States Air Force base located in San Angelo, Texas, United States. As part of Air Education and Training Command, Goodfellow's main mission is cryptologic and intelligence training for the Air Forc ...
in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
. The combined branches of the river flow east about until it eventually empties into the
Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
within the waters of the
O.H. Ivie Lake O.H. Ivie Lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River (Texas), Colorado and Concho Rivers in Concho County, Texas, Concho, Coleman County, Texas, Coleman, and Runnels County, Texas, Runnels counties, 55 miles east of San Angelo, Texas in the United S ...
about east of Paint Rock, Texas.


History

Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha,
Governor of New Mexico , insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor , image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg , imagesize = 200px , alt = , incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham , incu ...
, dispatched an expedition from Santa Fe in 1650 led by Captain Diego del Castillo, to explore what is now north central Texas. The expedition reached the territory of the Tejas Indians, and reported finding pearls on the Concho River. The
Diego de Guadalajara expedition The Diego de Guadalajara expedition of 1654 was a Spanish expedition dispatched to follow up on the finding of freshwater pearls from pearl mussels in the Concho River in what is now Texas. Although results were disappointing, the expedition led to ...
was launched in 1654 to follow up on Castillo's findings. The Spanish explored the river for the gem-quality purple to pink
pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s produced by that species. The mussels were systematically harvested for only a short time because they soon realized that the yield of pearls was too low for their harvest to be economically viable.


See also

*
List of rivers of Texas The list of rivers of Texas is a list of all named waterways, including rivers and streams that partially pass through or are entirely located within the U.S. state of Texas. Across the state, there are 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers acc ...
*
Concho County, Texas Concho County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,303. Its county seat is Paint Rock. The county was founded in 1858 and later organized in 1879. It is named for t ...
*
Concho Valley The Concho Valley is a region in West Texas. The region takes its name from the Concho River ("shell" in Spanish), named due to its abundance of freshwater mussels in the river. Counties There are variations of the region, but according to the C ...


References


External links

*
Southwest Paddler report on Concho River
{{authority control Rivers of Texas Rivers of Howard County, Texas Rivers of Tom Green County, Texas Rivers of Glasscock County, Texas Rivers of Sterling County, Texas Rivers of Coke County, Texas Rivers of Schleicher County, Texas Rivers of Concho County, Texas Tributaries of the Colorado River (Texas)