The North Fork Red River, sometimes called simply the "North Fork", is a tributary of the
Red River of the South about long, heading along the eastern
Caprock Escarpment of the
Llano Estacado about southwest of
Pampa, Texas
Pampa (from the Quechua: ''pampa'', meaning "plain") is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,867 as of the 2020 census. Pampa is the county seat of Gray County and is the principal city of the Pampa micropolit ...
.
[United States Board on Geographical Names. 1960. Decisions on names in the United States: Alaska and Puerto Rico, Decisions rendered in May, June, and August 1959, Decision list no. 5903, United States Department of the Interior, Washington DC, p. 52.] Rising in
Gray County, Texas
Gray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,227. The county seat is Pampa. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1902. is named for Peter W. Gray, a Confederate lawy ...
, it terminates at the confluence with
Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River at the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Course
From its source in central
Gray County, Texas
Gray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,227. The county seat is Pampa. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1902. is named for Peter W. Gray, a Confederate lawy ...
, the river flows eastward, passing through
Wheeler County, Texas
Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,990. Its county seat is Wheeler. The county was formed in 1876 and organized in 1879. It is named for Royall Tyler Wheeler, a chief j ...
, into
Oklahoma. Just west of the Wheeler county line, it is joined by
McClellan Creek
McClellan Creek is a river in Texas.
Named after George B. McClellan, who with his future father-in-law, Randolph B. Marcy, made a survey of the area in 1851–52, looking for a route for the Southern Pacific Railroad.Carter, R.G., 1935, ''On the ...
, its chief tributary.
In
Oklahoma, the stream flows east across
Beckham County where it is joined by
Sweetwater Creek. It then turns southeast to form the county line between
Greer and
Kiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...
counties, where it is impounded to form
Lake Altus-Lugert
Lake Altus-Lugert, also known as Lake Altus, Lake Lugert, Lake Lugert-Altus, and Lugert Lake, is a reservoir located on the North Fork Red River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Altus, Oklahoma on the former site of the town of Lugert, Ok ...
. In southern Greer County, the North Fork joins Elm Creek before turning in a more southerly direction, forming the border between Kiowa County and
Jackson County, Oklahoma
Jackson County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,446. Its county seat is Altus. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', the cou ...
and Jackson County, and
Tillman
Tillman is a surname and given name of English origin and an Americanized spelling of Tillmann. Other variants of the name include Tilman and Dillman. Notable people with the name Tillmann include:
Surname
* Albert Tillman (1928–2004), Amer ...
counties.
It joins the
Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River at the Texas-Oklahoma border about northeast of
Vernon, Texas
Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 11,002.
History
The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After th ...
.
Overall, the North Fork descends from its headwaters to its confluence with the Red River, passing through mostly rolling to flat terrain with local shallow depressions along its course.
Historic significance
After the
Adams-Onis Treaty defined the
Red River as the boundary between the United States and
New Spain in 1819, the North Fork was considered to be part of the boundary. The Marcy Expedition in 1852 discovered that the main channel of the Red River was actually the South Fork of the Red River, now named Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. The U. S. government thereafter claimed the land between the two Red River streams as far as the 100th Meridian as part of its own territory.
After the Republic of Texas joined the United States, Texas still claimed the area, which it named
Greer County). A lawsuit brought by Texas against the United States was litigated before the United States Supreme Court, was won by the United States. As a result, Greer County, Texas became a part of
Oklahoma Territory and the North Fork ceased to be the Texas boundary.
Communities
*
Lefors, TX
*
Shamrock, TX
*
Sayre, OK
*
Granite, OK
*
Lone Wolf, OK
*
Blair, OK
*
Tipton, OK
*
Headrick, OK
See also
*
Adams-Onis Treaty
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Little Red River
*
Pease River
*
Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River
Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about long, formed at the confluence of Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek, about northeast of Canyon in Randall County, Texas, and flowing east-southeastward to the Red River about ...
*
Red River of the South
*
Salt Fork Red River
The Salt Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about north of Claude of Armstrong County, Texas, flowing east across the Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma to join the Red River abo ...
*
Washita River
The Washita River () is a river in the states of Texas and Oklahoma in the United States. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border.
Geography
The ...
*
Wichita River
The Wichita River ( ), part of the Red River watershed, lies in north-central Texas. Rising in northeastern Knox County at the confluence of its North and South Forks, the river flows northeast across Baylor, Archer, Wichita, and Clay count ...
Notes
References
External links
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{{authority control
Rivers of Texas
Rivers of Oklahoma
Tributaries of the Red River of the South
Bodies of water of Tillman County, Oklahoma
Bodies of water of Wilbarger County, Texas