The Purgatoire River ( es, Río Purgatorio) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in southeastern

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 ...

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 ...

. The river is also known locally as the Purgatory River or the Picketwire River. ''Purgatoire'' means

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

in French. French trappers named the river to commemorate Spanish explorers killed in a Native American attack. The Purgatoire River originates at the confluence of the North Fork Purgatoire and Middle Fork Purgatoire rivers near

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

Las Animas County, Colorado Las Animas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,555. The county seat is Trinidad. The county takes its name from the Mexican Spanish name of the Purgatoire River, originally c ...

. It flows generally east-northeastward U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 31, 2011 to a confluence with the Arkansas River in

John Martin Reservoir State Park John Martin Reservoir State Park is a state park in Colorado. It contains John Martin Reservoir, which is the second largest body of water in Colorado by capacity. It is also known for being a prime birdwatching location. Bent County, Colorado h ...

near Las Animas in

Bent County, Colorado Bent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,650. The county seat and only incorporated municipality is Las Animas. The county is named in honor of frontier trader William Bent. Hi ...

. The Purgatoire River drains an area of : 96.4 percent of this area is in Colorado, and the remaining 3.6 percent is in

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 ...

. The

Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (also Pinon and Pinyon) is a 235,896 acre (955 km2) U.S. Army base in southeastern Colorado. The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) is a training site for Fort Carson. In 2003, the U.S. Army announced a plan t ...

is a large military base located along the western bank of the Purgatoire River. Citizens groups opposed plans of the U.S. Army to expand the base. On November 25, 2013, the U.S. Army announced that its plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site had been cancelled.

In popular culture

The river is frequently referred to as the Picketwire River in the film ''

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...

'' (1962), and once in the film ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'' (2010). This is a folk-etymologizing

anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

phonological approximation of the French pronunciation , developed by English-speaking settlers who later came to the area. The Purgatoire River is referenced in the 2017

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

miniseries '' Godless''. It is also mentioned as the Purgatory in the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winning book ''

Lonesome Dove ''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically. The story revolves around the relationships b ...

'' by

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

, as the place where the renegade Blue Duck goes into hiding.

References

Rivers of Colorado Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Las Animas County, Colorado Rivers of Bent County, Colorado {{Colorado-river-stub

In popular culture

See also

References