Arikaree River
| Arikaree River | |
| Arikara Fork Republican River, Ononio'he | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | North Fork Arikaree River |
| Source | |
| - location | Elbert County, Colorado |
| - elevation | 5,908 ft (1,801 m) |
| - coordinates | 39°22′36″N 103°46′44″W / 39.37667°N 103.77889°W |
| Mouth | Republican River |
| - location | Haigler, Nebraska |
| - elevation | 3,241 ft (988 m) |
| - coordinates | 40°01′13″N 101°56′17″W / 40.02028°N 101.93806°WCoordinates: 40°01′13″N 101°56′17″W / 40.02028°N 101.93806°W [1] |
| Length | 156 mi (251 km) |
| Basin | 1,743 sq mi (4,514 km2) |
| Discharge | for USGS 06821500 at Haigler, NE[2] |
| - average | 16.7 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| - max | 17,000 cu ft/s (481 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| Watersheds | Arikaree-Republican-Kansas- Missouri-Mississippi |
The Arikaree River is a 156-mile-long (251 km)[3] river in the central Great Plains of North America. A tributary of the Republican River, most of its length lies in the American state of Colorado.[4]
Name
The river is named after the indigenous Arikara people. The word "Arikaree" refers to "horn".[5]
Geography
The source of the Arikaree River is in extreme eastern Elbert County, Colorado on the western edge of the High Plains region of the Great Plains.[4][6] From there, the river flows generally northeast across the High Plains in eastern Colorado. It then crosses the extreme northwestern corner of Kansas before entering far southwestern Nebraska. At the town of Haigler, the Arikaree joins with the North Fork Republican River to form the Republican River.[4]
The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and into Cheyenne County, Kansas, located at 39°58′41″N 102°03′06″W / 39.97806°N 102.05167°W, is the lowest point in Colorado at an elevation of 3,317 feet (1,011 m). It holds the distinction of being the highest low point of any U.S. state, higher than the highest points of 18 states and the District of Columbia.[7]
History
Along the river is the site of the 1868 Battle of Beecher Island.
See also
- Arikaree Breaks
- Arikaree River Natural Area
- List of Colorado rivers
- List of Kansas rivers
- List of Nebraska rivers
References
- ↑ "Arikaree River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
- ↑ "Water-Data Report 2012 - 06821500 Arikaree River at Haigler, NE" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ↑ "National Hydrography Dataset". National Hydrography Dataset. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Colorado [Map]" (PDF). Colorado Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States (PDF). p. 28.
- ↑ "Physiographic Provinces of Colorado". Colorado Geological Survey. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. "Elevations and Distances". Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-08.