The North Canadian River 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 ...

, long, in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in the United States. It is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .U.S. Geological Survey.

National Hydrography Dataset The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a digital database of surface water features used to make maps. It contains features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, canals, dams and stream gages for the United States. Description Cartographers ...

/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering North Canadian River watershed (4-digit

Hydrologic Unit Code A hydrological code or hydrologic unit code is a sequence of numbers or letters (a '' geocode'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such as a river, river reach, lake, or area like a drainage basin (also called watershed in North Ame ...

s 1110), viewed i
The National Map
accessed 2019-09-25 in a

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

that includes parts of northeastern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

and the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

. A portion of the river flowing through

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

was renamed the Oklahoma River in 2004.

Course

The North Canadian River is formed by the confluence of the Beaver River and

Wolf Creek Wolf Creek may refer to: Bodies of water Missouri * Wolf Creek (Beaver Creek tributary) * Wolf Creek (Cane Creek tributary) * Wolf Creek (Cave Creek tributary) * Wolf Creek (Elkhorn Creek tributary) * Wolf Creek (South Grand River tributary) * ...

, northeast of the town of Fort Supply in

Woodward County, Oklahoma Woodward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,081. Its county seat is Woodward. Woodward County comprises the Woodward, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area. Woodward County was ...

. It flows generally eastward and southeastward, through Woodward,

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

, Dewey, Blaine,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Pottawatomie The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a ...

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Hughes Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...

Okfuskee Okfuskee are a Muscogee tribe. Alternative spellings include the traditional Mvskoke spelling "Akfvske", referring to the tribal town in Alabama, and the comparable spelling Oakfuskee. They formed part of the former Creek (Muscogee) Confederacy in ...

, Okmulgee, and

McIntosh McIntosh, Macintosh, or Mackintosh (Gaelic: ') may refer to: Products and brands * Mackintosh, a form of waterproof raincoat * Mackintosh's or John Mackintosh and Co., later Rowntree Mackintosh, former UK confectionery company now part of Nestl� ...

counties, through the cities and towns of Woodward, Oklahoma City, and

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

. It is dammed near

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

to form Canton Lake in Blaine County, and in Oklahoma City to form

Lake Overholser Lake Overholser is a reservoir within the city limits of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Lake Overholser is formed by Overholser Dam on the North Canadian River in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. The lake is west of Bethany.Lake Eufaula, which is formed by a dam on the Canadian River.

Oklahoma River

A portion of the river flowing through Oklahoma City was renamed the Oklahoma River in 2004.Oklahoma River
. This portion has several locks that have created a series of small lakes in which rowing, kayaking, and canoeing regattas take place (hosted by the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, Chesapeake Boat House, and

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

). Regatta activities include: 2.5 mile head races, 2000 meter sprints, and 500 meter sprints. It is the only location in the US conducting officially sanctioned night sprints under lights. The Oklahoma River was profiled in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on April 22, 2008.

Variant names and definitions

The name "North Canadian River" has sometimes been applied to the Beaver River and one of the Beaver River's headwaters tributaries,

Corrumpa Creek Corrumpa Creek is a watercourse in New Mexico and Oklahoma. It originates at Weatherly Lake, located 9 miles east-southeast of Des Moines in Union County, New Mexico. It results from the South Branch Corrumpa Creek, which originates south-southw ...

, extending the North Canadian River's length into New Mexico and Texas. The U.S. federal government used that definition from 1914 to 1970: A 1914 decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) defined the North Canadian River as including both the Beaver River and Corrumpa Creek as part of its course. A 1970 USBGN decision revised the 1914 definition, defining the North Canadian River as beginning at the confluence of the Beaver River and Wolf Creek. In the language of the

Muscogee (Creek) Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

it is called the "Oktahutchee." This is reflected by the poem "Song of the Oktahutche" by Muscogee writer

Alexander Posey Alexander Lawrence Posey (August 3, 1873 – May 27, 1908) was an American poet, humorist, journalist, and politician in the Creek Nation.Schneider 190 He founded the '' Eufaula Indian Journal'' in 1901, the first Native American daily newspaper ...

, which later gaves it name to the first complete collection of his work. Posey himself died trying to cross the flooded river in 1908. The USBGN's

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

also lists "Beaver Creek," "Beaver River," "Branche Nord de la Riviere Canadienne," "Honih'hiyo'he," "North Fork Canadian River," and "North Fork of Canadian River" as historical variant names for the river.

Gallery

References