Citizendia

Map of the Brazos Watershed
A railroad bridge over the Brazos
A railroad bridge over the Brazos

The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers, which can be translated as "The River of the Arms of God," is the 11th longest river in the United States at 2060 km (1280 miles) from its source of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico[1] to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a 116,000 km² (44,800 sq mi) drainage basin. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Curry County is a County located in the US state of New Mexico. A delta is a Landform where the mouth of a River flows into an Ocean, Sea, Estuary, Lake or another river The Gulf of Mexico ( Spanish: Golfo de México) is the ninth largest Body of water in the world A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, [2]

The Brazos proper begins at the confluence of its Salt Fork and Double Mountain Fork (which rises west of Lubbock and passes through the city) flowing 840 miles through the middle of Texas. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Its main tributaries are the Clear Fork of the Brazos, which passes by Abilene and joins the main river near Graham; Bosque River; Little River; Yegua Creek; and Navasota River. Abilene ( "ABBA-leen") is a city in Jones and Taylor Counties in the central part of the U Graham is a city in and the County seat of Young County, Texas, United States. The Bosque River (pronounced BOSS-kee is a long river in Texas fed by four primary branches The Little River is a river in the US state of Texas. It is formed by the confluence of the Leon River and the Lampasas River near Little Initially running east towards Dallas-Fort Worth, the Brazos turns south, passing through Waco, further south to near Calvert, Texas then past Bryan and College Station, then through Richmond, Texas in Fort Bend County, and into the Gulf of Mexico in the marshes just south of Freeport. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States. Waco (ˈweɪkoʊ is a city in and the County seat of McLennan County, Texas. Calvert is a city in Robertson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1426 at the 2000 census Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 65660 College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in Central Texas. The city of Richmond is the County seat of Fort Bend County in the U Fort Bend County is a county located along the Gulf Coast region in the U The Gulf of Mexico ( Spanish: Golfo de México) is the ninth largest Body of water in the world In Geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of Wetland which is subject Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area and is situated in Southeast Texas. [2]

The Brazos is dammed in three places, all north of Waco, forming Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury, and Lake Whitney. Possum Kingdom Lake (popularly known as PK) located primarily in Palo Pinto County Texas, is a 20000 acre (81 km² lake on the Brazos River Lake Granbury is a Fresh-water man-made North Texas Lake in Granbury Texas. Lake Whitney is the only flood control Reservoir on the main stem of the Brazos River in the state of Texas Of these three, Granbury was the last to be completed, in 1969, and its proposed construction in the mid-1950s became the impetus for John Graves' book, Goodbye to a River. Goodbye to a River is a book by John Graves published in 1960 There is also a small municipal dam (Lake Brazos Dam) near the downstream city limit of Waco, which raises the level of the river through the city to form a town-lake. Waco (ˈweɪkoʊ is a city in and the County seat of McLennan County, Texas. This impoundment of the Brazos through Waco is locally called Lake Brazos. The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers (translated as "The River of the Arms of God" is the 11th longest river in the Waco (ˈweɪkoʊ is a city in and the County seat of McLennan County, Texas. [1] There are 19 major reservoirs along the Brazos. [3]

It is unclear when it was first named by European explorers, since it was often confused with the Colorado River not far to the south, but it was certainly seen by La Salle. The Colorado River is the 18th longest river in the United States. René Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle ( November 22, 1643 &ndash March 19, 1687) was a French Later Spanish accounts call it Los Brazos de Dios (the arms of God), for which name there were several different explanations, all involving it being the first water to be found by desperately thirsty parties. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

While the river was important for navigation before the American Civil War, it is primarily important today as a source of water for power and irrigation. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The water is administered by the Brazos River Authority. The Brazos River Authority was created in 1929 by the Texas Legislature as a quasi-governmental entity to manage the Brazos River as a water resource in Texas

The river also features prominently in a number of prison songs, because at one time it ran past nearly every prison in Texas.

Contents

Cultural References

The Brazos river is mentioned in the Old Crow Medicine Show song "Take 'em away". Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time String band based in Nashville Tennessee.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Kammerer, J. C. (1987). "Largest Rivers in the United States" (HTML). HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure . United States Geological Survey Retrieved on 2006-07-15. The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final
  2. ^ a b Hendrickson, Kenneth E. , Jr. (1999-02-15). Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor Brazos River (HTML). HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure The Handbook of Texas Online. The Handbook of Texas (ISBN 0-87611-151-7 is a comprehensive Encyclopedia of Texas geography history and historical persons published by the Texas The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. The Texas State Historical Association or abbreviated TSHA, is a Non-profit educational organization dedicated Retrieved on 2006-07-22. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of
  3. ^ River Basin Map of Texas (JPEG). Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin (1996). Retrieved on 2006-07-15. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org