Texas Almanac, 1996-1997 Page: 75
672 p. : col. ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Environment
Sefiora de Guadalupe, the name given the stream by
Alonso de Le6n.
Lavaca River
The Lavaca is considered a primary stream in the
Texas Basin because it flows directly into the Gulf,
through Lavaca Bay. Without a spring-water source
and with only a small watershed, including that of its
principal tributary, the Navidad, its flow is intermittent.
The Spanish called it the Lavaca (cow) River because
of the numerous bison they found. It is the principal
stream running to the Gulf between the Guadalupe
and the Colorado. The principal lake on the Navidad is
Lake Texana. Runoff averages about 600,000 acre-
feet yearly into the Gulf.
Colorado River
Measured by length and drainage area, the Colo-
rado is the largest river wholly in Texas. (This com-
panrison excludes the Brazos, whose drainage basin
extends into New Mexico.) Rising in Dawson County,
the Colorado flows about 600 miles to Matagorda Bay
on the Gulf. Its drainage area is 39,900 square miles.
Its runoff reaches a volume of more than 2 million
acre-feet near the Gulf. Its name is a Spanish word
meaning "reddish." There is evidence that the name,
Colorado, was given originally by Spanish explorers to
the muddy Brazos, and Spanish mapmakers later
transposed the two names. The river flows through a
rolling, mostly prairie terrain to the vicinity of San Saba
County, where it enters the rugged Hill Country and
Burnet-Llano Basin. It passes through a picturesque
series of canyons until it issues from the Balcones
Escarpment at Austin and flows across the Coastal
Plain to the Gulf. In this area the most remarkable
series of reservoirs in Texas has been built. There
are two large reservoirs, Lake Buchanan in Burnet
and Llano counties and Lake Travis in Travis County.
Between these, in Burnet County, are three smaller
reservoirs: Inks, Johnson (formerly Granite Shoals)
and Marble Falls, built to aid power production from
water running over the Buchanan Lake spillway. Below
Lake Travis is the older Lake Austin, largely filled with
silt, whose dam maintains a head for production of
power from waters flowing down from the lakes above.
Town Lake is in the city of Austin. This area is known
as the Highland Lakes Country.
As early as the 1820s, Anglo-Americans settled on
the banks of the lower Colorado, and in 1839 the Cap-
Ital Commission of the Republic of Texas chose the
picturesque area where the river flows from the Bal-
cones Escarpment as the site of a new capital of the
Republic - now Austin, capital of the state. The early
colonists encouraged navigation along the lower chan-
nel with some success, and boats occasionally ven-
tured as far upstream as Austin. However, a natural
log "raft" in the channel near the Gulf blocked river
traffic. Conservation and utilization of the waters of the
Colorado are under jurisdiction of three agencies cre-
ated by the state Legislature, the Lower, Central and
Upper Colorado River Authorities.
The principal tributaries of the Colorado are the sev-
eral prongs of the Concho River on its upper course,
the Pecan Bayou (farthest west "bayou" in the
United States) and the Llano, San Saba and Peder-
nales rivers. All except the Pecan Bayou flow into the
Colorado from the Edwards Plateau and are spring-
fed, perennially flowing. In the numerous mussels
found along these streams occasional pearls have
been found. The Middle Concho was designated on
early Spanish maps as Rio de las Perlas.
Brazos River
The Brazos is the largest river between the Rio
Grande and the Red River and is third in size of all
rivers in Texas. It rises in three upper forks, the Dou-
ble Mountain, Salt and Clear forks of the Brazos.
The Brazos River proper is considered as beginningwhere the Double Mountain and Salt Forks flow
together in Stonewall County. The Clear Fork joins this
main stream in Young County, just above Possum
Kingdom Lake. The Brazos crosses most of the main
physiographic regions of Texas - High Plains, West
Texas Lower Rolling Plains, West Cross Timbers,
Grand Prairie and Gulf Coastal Plain.
The total length from the source of its longest upper
prong, the Double Mountain Fork, to the mouth of the
main stream at the Gulf, was reported to be 923.2
miles in a 1970 study by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The drainage area is about 42,800 square miles. It
flows directly into the Gulf near Freeport. Its annual
runoff at places along its lower channel exceeds 5 mil-
lion acre-feet.
The original name of this river was Brazos de Dios,
meaning "Arms of God." There are several legends as
to why. One is that the Coronado expedition, wander-
ing on the trackless Llano Estacado, exhausted its
water and was threatened with death from thirst. Arriv-
ing at the bank of the river they gave it the name of
Brazos de Dios in thankfulness. Another is that a ship
exhausted its water supply and its crew was saved
when they found the mouth of the Brazos. Still another
story is that miners on the San Saba were forced by
drouth to seek water near present-day Waco and in
gratitude called it Brazos de Dios There is also the
theory that the early Spanish cartographers called the
river "Arms of God" because of the great spread of its
tributaries.
Much early Anglo-American colonization of Texas
took place in the Brazos Valley. Along its channel were
San Felipe de Austin, capital of Austin's colony,
Washington-on-the-Brazos, where Texans declared
independence, and other historic settlements. There
was some navigation of the lower channel of the
Brazos in this period. Near its mouth it intersects the
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which provides connec-
tion with the commerce on the Mississippi.
Most of the Brazos Valley lies within the boundaries
of the Brazos River Authority, which conducts a mul-
tipurpose program for development. A large reservoir
on the Brazos is Whitney Lake (622,800 acre-feet
capacity) on the main channel, where it is the bound-
ary line between Hill and Bosque counties. Another
large reservoir is Possum Kingdom Lake in Palo
Pinto, Stephens, Young and Jack counties. Waco
Lake on the Bosque and Belton Lake on the Leon are
among the principal reservoirs on its tributaries. In
addition to its three upper forks, other chief tributaries
are the Paluxy, Little and Navasota rivers.
San Jacinto River
A short river with a drainage basin of 3,976 square
miles and nearly 2 million acre-feet runoff, the San
Jacinto runs directly to the Gulf through Galveston
Bay. It is formed by the junction of its East and West
forks in the northeastern part of Harris County. Its total
length, including the East Fork, is about 85 miles.
There are two stories of the origin of its name. One is
that when early explorers discovered it, its channel
was choked with hyacinth ("jacinto" is the Spanish
word for hyacinth). The other is that it was discovered
on Aug. 17, St. Hyacinth's Day. Through the lower
course of the San Jacinto and its tributary, Buffalo
Bayou, runs the Houston Ship Channel connecting
the Port of Houston with the Gulf. On the shore of the
San Jacinto was fought the Battle of San Jacinto,
April 21, 1836, in which Texas won its independence
from Mexico. The San Jacinto State Park and monu-
ment are there.
Lake Conroe is on the West Fork, and Lake Hous-
ton is located at the junction of the West Fork and the
East Fork.
Trinity River
The Trinity rises in its East Fork, Elm Fork, West
Fork and Clear Fork in Grayson, Montague, Archer
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Ramos, Mary G. Texas Almanac, 1996-1997, book, 1995; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162514/m1/75/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.