Lake Hudson, also known as Markham Ferry Reservoir, is a man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

Mayes County, Oklahoma Mayes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,259. Its county seat is Pryor Creek. Named for Samuel Houston Mayes, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1895 to 1899, it was ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, about northwest of

Locust Grove, Oklahoma Locust Grove is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,423 at the 2010 census, a 4.2 percent increase over the figure of 1,366 recorded in 2000. History Locust Grove was the site of the Battle of Locust Grove, a ...

and southeast of

Pryor, Oklahoma Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census. Originally ...

.U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. "Lake Hudson (Markham Ferry Reservoir)." Retrieved September 19, 2011. It was created by the completion of the Robert S. Kerr Dam on the Grand River in 1964. It is managed by the

Grand River Dam Authority The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is an agency of the state of Oklahomcreated to control, develop, and maintain the Grand River (Oklahoma), Grand River waterway. It was created by the Oklahoma state legislature in 1935, and is headquartered in ...

(GRDA).GRDA Robert S. Kerr Dam. Retrieved September 19, 2011
/ref>

History

GRDA began construction of the Markham Ferry Dam in December 1961. This was the second of GRDA's hydroelectric projects along the Grand River. The first was

Pensacola Dam The Pensacola Dam, also known as the Grand River Dam, is a multiple-arch buttress dam on the Grand River in-between Disney and Langley in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The dam is operated by the Grand River Dam Authority and creates Grand Lake o ...

, which created

Grand Lake o' the Cherokees Grand Lake o' the Cherokees is situated in Northeast Oklahoma in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range. It is often simply called Grand Lake. It is administered by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). History The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahom ...

. The Markham Ferry project was completed in April 1964.

Namesake Controversy

The lake was named for Washington ("Wash") E. Hudson, an early-day Tulsa attorney, Oklahoma state legislator, and member of the board of the GRDA from 1955 until he died in 1964. In 1923, he founded the Tulsa Law School."Bailey, Brianna. "State officials investigate Oklahoma lake named for Tulsa Klansman." ''The Frontier''. August 13, 2018.
Accessed December 27, 2018. Researchers reported in 2018 that Wash Hudson was an incorporator of the Tulsa Benevolent Society in 1922, which established the Ku Klux Klan in Tulsa in the following year. A GRDA spokesman told the reporter that GRDA would investigate the feasibility of renaming the lake, in view of these reports. He had said that the utility had never before received any complaints about the lake name, nor about Mr. Hudson himself. GRDA spokesman John Wiscaver says the agency investigated Hudson's background after being approached by the online publication ''The Frontier'', which first reported the proposed name change. Wiscaver said it is "fairly clear" Hudson was involved with the Ku Klux Klan and the GRDA supports the bill. The lake would become Lake Markham in honor of a Cherokee family that operated a ferry service on a portion of Grand River that is now part of the lake. In 2019, the State of Oklahoma denied the request to have the name changed from Lake Hudson to Lake Markham.

Robert S. Kerr Dam structure

The Robert S. Kerr Dam structure is a concrete gravity and earth filled embankment with a concrete ogee weir spillway. The length is , including the powerhouse, and the height is about above the stream bed. The spillway has seventeen gates, each , operated by two traveling gate hoists. Its capacity is per second.

Lake description

The lake has a surface area of , a shoreline of , and a "normal" level (being the top of its conservation pool) of above sea level.GRDA Lake Hudson. Retrieved September 24, 2011
/ref> The normal storage capacity is . The top of the flood control pool is at above sea level. Kerr dam has a crest elevation of above sea level.

Power generation

The powerhouse has four hydroelectric turbines, providing a total capacity of 114,000 kW. GRDA states that an average year can provide 211 million kWh. Lake Hudson also is the water source for the nearby

Salina Pumped Storage Project The Salina Pumped Storage Project is a pumped-storage power station near Salina, Oklahoma. It is owned and operated by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). Its construction was in response to growing power demands and a lack of dam sites on the ...

Snowdale State Park

Snowdale State Park is located on Lake Hudson in Eastern Oklahoma."Snowdale State Park.
/ref> A variety of water sports are permitted. Other recreational activities are camping, hiking, swimming and volleyball. It is popular for bass, catfish, perch and crappie fishing. Facilities include a lighted boat ramp, swimming beach, playground, volleyball court, picnic tables, a group picnic shelter and a comfort station with showers. The park offers 17 RV sites with water and electric hookups and 20 tent sites. The campgrounds and restrooms are closed for the winter.TravelOK."Snowdale Area at Grand Lake State Park."
Retrieved January 2, 2014. The park is about west of Salina on SH 20. It is in area and was built in 1959. Snowdale became the Snowdale Area at Grand Lake State Park. The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation chose not to renew its lease on the property from the

in 2019, shutting down the park.

References

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Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

Protected areas of Mayes County, Oklahoma Dams completed in 1964 Bodies of water of Mayes County, Oklahoma