Calaveras River

Calaveras River
River
New Hogan Lake, the main reservoir on the Calaveras River
Country	United States
State	California


Source	Confluence of North and South Forks
- location	West of San Andreas
- elevation	705 ft (215 m)
- coordinates	38°11′50″N 120°43′12″W / 38.19722°N 120.72000°W / 38.19722; -120.72000 ^[1]
Mouth	San Joaquin River
- location	Near Stockton
- coordinates	37°58′01″N 121°22′04″W / 37.96694°N 121.36778°W / 37.96694; -121.36778Coordinates: 37°58′01″N 121°22′04″W / 37.96694°N 121.36778°W / 37.96694; -121.36778 ^[1]

Length	51.9 mi (84 km)
Basin	470 sq mi (1,217 km²)
Discharge	for Jenny Lind, CA
- average	225 cu ft/s (6 m³/s)
- max	50,000 cu ft/s (1,416 m³/s)
- min	0 cu ft/s (0 m³/s)

The Calaveras River is a river in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

It flows roughly southwest for 51.9 miles (83.5 km) from the confluence of its north and south forks in Calaveras County to its confluence with the San Joaquin River just west of the city of Stockton.^[2]

The Spanish word calaveras means "skulls." The river was said to have been named by Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga when he found many skulls of Native Americans along its banks. He believed they had either died of famine or been killed in tribal conflicts over hunting and fishing grounds. In fact, the human remains were of the native Miwuk people killed by Spanish soldiers after they banded together to rise against Spanish missionaries. The Stanislaus River is named for Estanislau, a coastal Miwuk who escaped from Mission San Jose in the late 1830s. He is reported to have raised a small group of men with crude weapons, hiding in the foothills when the Spanish attacked. The Miwuk were quickly decimated by Spanish gunfire. Moraga must not have known this part of history.

In 1836, John Marsh, Jose Noriega, and a party of men, went exploring in Northern California. They made camp along a river bed in the evening, and when they woke up the next morning, discovered that they had camped in the midst of a great quantity of skulls and bones. They also gave the river the appropriate name: Calaveras.^[3]^[4]^[5]

New Hogan Lake is the only lake on the river. It is formed by New Hogan Dam, which was completed in 1963. The dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, primarily for flood control. The dam also provides drinking water, water for irrigation, hydroelectricity and recreation, including fishing, camping, swimming and water skiing.

References

1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Calaveras River
↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 11, 2011
↑ Lyman, George D. John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-blazer on Six Frontiers, pp. 207-8, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.
↑ Winkley, John W., Dr. John Marsh: Wilderness Scout, pp. 54-5, The Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1962.
↑ Thompson, Thomas Hinkley, and West, Albert Augustus. History of San Joaquin County, California, p. 13, 1879.

Rivers of California's Central Valley watershed (north-to-south)

Sacramento River Valley	Pit River McCloud River Cow Creek Cottonwood Creek Mill Creek Deer Creek Battle Creek Stony Creek Butte Creek Feather River Yuba River Bear River American River Cache Creek Putah Creek

San Joaquin River Valley	Mokelumne River Cosumnes River Calaveras River Stanislaus River Tuolumne River Merced River Mariposa Creek Chowchilla River Fresno River

Tulare Basin	Kings River Kaweah River Tule River White River Poso Creek Kern River

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