Caddo Lake
viewed from a point near Uncertain
Location	Texas, Louisiana
Coordinates	32.708478° N 93.9174032° W
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	25,400 acre (103 km²)
Surface elevation	161 ft (49 m)

Caddo Lake is a 25,400 acre (103 km²) lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. Uncertain is a town in Harrison County, Texas, in the United States. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America 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, A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Harrison County is a County of the US state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 62110 Marion County is a County located in the US state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 10941 Caddo Parish is a Parish located in the US state of Louisiana. The lake is named after the Southeastern culture of Native Americans called Caddo or Caddoans, who lived in the area from the 16th century until their expulsion in the 19th century. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States The Caddo are a nation or group of tribes of Southeastern Native Americans who in the 16th century inhabited much of what is now East Texas, western It is an Internationally protected wet land under the RAMSAR treaty and is the largest natural fresh water lake in the South, and the largest Cypress forest in the world. The Ramsar Convention is an international Treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of Wetlands i Taxodium distichum ( Baldcypress, Bald Cypress, or Swamp Cypress) is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United It used to be Texas' only natural lake until it was artificially dammed in the 1900s. ^[1]

Formation

Caddo Lake during winter.

According to Caddo legend, the lake was formed by the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake. The Caddo are a nation or group of tribes of Southeastern Native Americans who in the 16th century inhabited much of what is now East Texas, western There may be some truth to the legend, as Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee was formed by that earthquake, but most geologists now feel that Caddo Lake was formed gradually rather than catastrophically. Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural Lake located in the northwest portion of Tennessee and extending into Fulton County Kentucky, United States of Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer The lake was formed, either gradually or catastrophically, by the "Great Raft" a 100 mile (160 km) log jam on the Red River in Louisiana. The Great Raft was a gigantic logjam or series of "rafts" that clogged the Red and Atchafalaya Rivers and was unique in North America For other uses see Red River. The Red River is one of several rivers with that name.

History

The Channel was used by Steamboats to reach the port at Jefferson, until water levels fell after the removal of the Great Raft. A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller

Caddo was first seen by Native Americans in the 8th century, but substantial development would only begin with invention of the steamboat and US annexation of both Louisiana and Texas in the 19th century. A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Annexation ( Latin ad, to and nexus, joining is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous The cities of Port Caddo, Swanson's Landing, and Jefferson in Texas and Mooringsport in Louisiana, had thriving riverboat ports on the lake. Jefferson is a city in Marion County, Texas, United States. The population was 2024 at the 2000 census Mooringsport is a village in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a Steam engine that uses one or more Paddle wheels to develop thrust for propulsion. Gradually as the log jams where removed in the lake and the Red River by Captain Henry Miller Shreve and then by the Army Corps of Engineers, the lake changed shape and eventually fell over ten feet destroying the East Texas ports and their riverboat industry. Henry Miller Shreve ( October 21, 1785 – March 6, 1851) was the American Inventor and Steamboat captain who The United States Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE) is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34600 Civilian and 650 Military personnel East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U

Industry once again came to Caddo Lake with the discovery of oil beneath it. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit The world's first over water oil well was completed in Caddo Lake in 1911. An oil platform or oil rig is a large structure used to house workers and machinery needed to drill and/or extract oil and Natural gas through wells The Ferry Lake No. 1 was erected by Gulf Refining Company. Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s The well bottomed at 2,185 feet and produced 450 barrels per day.

Oil derricks sprang up throughout the lake, around the turn of the 20th century, further damaging the fragile ecosystem. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( The oil industry left Caddo for richer fields at Kilgore and other locations in Texas. Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk Counties in the eastern part of the U Texas tried to preserve parts of Caddo in 1934 by establishing a State Park, constructed by the WPA. State Park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty historic interest recreation or other The Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest New Deal agency employing millions of people The establishment of the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant on the shores of Caddo, in the mid 20th century, polluted large portions of the surrounding wetlands until its closure in the 1990s. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog

Preservation efforts

In 1993 Caddo Lake preservation entered a renaissance, with the announcement that 7,000 acres (28 km²) of Caddo purchased by the Nature Conservancy were to be merged with the 483 acre (2 km²) Texas Caddo Lake State Park to be become the Caddo Lake State Park and Wildlife Management Area. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U In October 1993 Caddo Lake became one of thirteen areas in the United States protected by the Ramsar Convention. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Ramsar Convention is an international Treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of Wetlands i As of 2003 Caddo Lake flora and fauna consisted of: 189 species of trees and shrubs, 75 grasses, 42 woody vines, 216 kinds of birds, 90 fish and reptiles, and 47 mammals. In Botany, flora ( Plural: floras or florae has two meanings The first meaning flora of an area or of time period, refers to all Fauna is all of the Animal life of any particular region or time In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or A shrub or Bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of Woody plant, distinguished from a Tree Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands One of these species, Crataegus opaca or mayhaw fruit is collected from the water to make a jelly that is considered one of the finest in the world. Mayhaw is the name given to the Fruit of three species of hawthorn that are common in wetlands throughout the southern United States. Forty four of Caddo's native species were either endangered, threatened or rare. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation Threatened species are any species (including Animals Plants fungi, etc A rare species is an Organism which is very uncommon or scarce From 2001 until 2003 Caddo Lake residents fought a legal battle with the City of Marshall, Texas over water rights. Marshall is a city of the northeastern region of the US state of Texas.

Voices advocating preservation of Lake Caddo included rocker Don Henley, frontman for The Eagles. Donald Hugh " Don " Henley (born July 22, 1947, in Gilmer Texas, U

Current threat

The lake is currently "under siege by a fast-spreading, Velcro-like aquatic fern, Salvinia molesta, also known as Giant Salvinia. " Accidentally introduced to the lake by boaters, the noxious weed doubles in size every two to four days, rapidly killing off life below the surface. Most of the growth of the weed is currently on the Louisiana side, where officials have been focused on recovering from damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. ^[2]

Efforts at removing the weed have included biological means via beetles that normally eat the weed but cannot survive the Texas cold and now include herbicide.

Texas Bigfoot

Since 1965 Texas' Caddo Lake has had hundreds of Bigfoot 'sightings' according to the Texas Big Foot Research Center (TBRC) as told on the Travel Channel 2006 Documentary "Bigfoot. Bigfoot or Sasquatch is alleged to be an Ape -like creature inhabiting remote forests mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada The Travel Channel is a Cable television network that features "

Cities and Towns on Caddo Lake

• Jefferson, Texas
• Karnack, Texas
• Mooringsport, Louisiana
• Oil City, Louisiana
• Swansons Landing, Texas
• Uncertain, Texas

References

External links

• Texas Big Foot Research Center
• Travel Channel Website
• USGS GNIS: Caddo Lake
• Caddo Lake from the Handbook of Texas Online