Cimarron River (Arkansas River tributary)


The Cimarron River extends across New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. The headwaters flow from Johnson Mesa west of Folsom in northeastern New Mexico. Much of the river's length lies in Oklahoma, where it either borders or passes through 11 counties. No major cities are along its route. The river enters the Oklahoma Panhandle near Kenton, Oklahoma, crosses the corner of southeastern Colorado into Kansas, re-enters the Oklahoma Panhandle, re-enters Kansas, and finally returns to Oklahoma, where it joins the Arkansas River at Keystone Reservoir west of Tulsa, Oklahoma, its only impoundment. The Cimarron drains a basin that encompasses about.

Names and etymology

The river's present name comes from the early Spanish name, Río de los Carneros Cimarrones, which is usually translated as River of the Wild Sheep; previous English names for the river include Grand Saline, Jefferson, Red Fork, and Salt Fork.

Description

In northeastern New Mexico and far western Oklahoma, the river is known as the Dry Cimarron River, which is not completely dry, but sometimes its water entirely disappears under the sand in the riverbed. The Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway follows the river from Folsom to the Oklahoma border. The waterway becomes simply the Cimarron River after being joined by Carrizozo Creek just inside the Oklahoma border, west of Kenton, Oklahoma. Carrizozo Creek also originates in New Mexico and exits into Oklahoma before re-entering New Mexico and then returning to Oklahoma before joining the river.
In Oklahoma, it is further joined by North Carrizo Creek north-northeast of Kenton, Tesesquite Creek further to the east of Kenton, and South Carrizo Creek yet further to the east. It additionally joins with Cold Springs Creek, Ute Canyon Creek, and Flagg Springs Creek before crossing into Kansas. The river flows along the southern edges of Black Mesa, Oklahoma's highest point. As it first crosses the Kansas border, the river flows through the Cimarron National Grassland.
At Guthrie, the river is joined by Cottonwood Creek, at a site known for frequent flooding.
The Cimarron's water quality is rated as poor because the river flows through natural mineral deposits, salt plains, and saline springs, where it dissolves large amounts of minerals. It also collects quantities of red soil, which it carries to its terminus. Before the Keystone Dam was built, this silt was sufficient to discolor the Arkansas River downstream.

Early explorers

The first Europeans to see the Cimarron River were apparently Spanish conquistadores led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541. The Spanish seem to have done little to exploit the area. The Osage tribe claimed most of the territory west of the confluence of the Cimarron and the Arkansas. In 1819, Thomas Nuttall explored the lower Cimarron and wrote a report describing the flora and fauna that he found there. In 1821, Mexico threw off Spanish rule and William Becknell opened the Santa Fe Trail.

Historical notes of interest

  • One branch of the Santa Fe Trail, known variously as the Cimarron Route, the Cimarron Cutoff, and the Middle Crossing, ran through the Cimarron Desert and then along the Cimarron River. Lower Cimarron Spring on the riverbank was an important watering and camping spot.
  • In 1831, Comanche Indians killed Jedediah Smith on the Santa Fe Trail near the Cimarron River. His body was never recovered.
  • In 1834, General Henry Leavenworth established Camp Arbuckle at the mouth of the Cimarron River. Later known as Old Fort Arbuckle, it was active for only about a year, and its former site is now submerged beneath the Arkansas River. It should not be confused with the later Fort Arbuckle in Garvin County, Oklahoma.
  • Historic sites along the river include the ruins of Camp Nichols, a stone fort Kit Carson built in 1865 to protect travelers from raids by Plains Indians on the Cimarron Cutoff. It was near present-day Wheeless, Oklahoma.
  • The old Chisholm Trail crossed the river at Red Fork Station near present-day Dover, Oklahoma.
  • In the 1890s, the Creek Nation Cave along the Cimarron River near Ingalls in the Oklahoma Territory, was a hideout for the Doolin gang, which included the teenaged bandits Cattle Annie and Little Britches.
  • On September 18, 1906, a bridge across the Cimarron near Dover, Oklahoma Territory, collapsed beneath a Rock Island train bound for Fort Worth, Texas, from Chicago. The bridge was a temporary structure unable to withstand the pressure of debris and high water. The railroad had delayed replacing it with a permanent structure for financial reasons. Several sources report that over 100 people were killed, but the figure is disputed. The true number may be as low as four.