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48-693: Historically in North America, large natural "log rafts" were common across the continent prior to European settlement. The most famous natural wood raft is the Great Raft on the Red River in Louisiana , which prior to its removal in the 1830s affected between 390 and 480 km (240–300 mi) of the main channel. It has been suggested that such extensive log rafts may have been common in Europe in prehistory. Currently,

96-504: A log drive to a sawmill . Log jams alter flow hydraulics by diverting flow towards the bed or banks, increasing flow resistance and creating upstream pools, diverting flow onto the floodplain and damming the channel, causing water to spill over the structure. These altered channel hydraulics change local patterns of erosion and deposition , which can create greater variety in local geomorphology and thus create provision and variety of habitat for instream living organisms. The formation of

144-519: A force of 159 men. His group began clearing a navigational path through 115 km of the Great Raft and, finally, by the spring of 1838, a path had been cleared; however, the remnants of the Great Raft along the river banks were not cleared and the Great Raft immediately began to reform When Shreve began work, the raft blocked a distance from 8 miles (13 km) directly below to 17 miles (27 km) directly above Shreveport. By April 1835, Shreve had removed

192-431: A log jam against one bank typically concentrates flow in the wood-free portion of the channel, increasing velocity through this section and promoting scour of the riverbed. The formation of channel-spanning log jams can lead to the formation of an upstream pool, water spilling over the structure generating a "plunge pool" immediately downstream. The hydraulic and geomorphological effects of log jams are highly dependent on

240-501: A new free bridge crossing the Red River. A joint project to build a free bridge between Durant, Oklahoma and Denison, Texas turned into a major dispute when the Governor of Texas blocked traffic from entering his state on the new bridge. The Red River Bridge Company of Texas owned the original toll bridge and had a dispute over its purchase deal. Oklahoma Governor William H. Murray sent

288-747: A steamboat, the Enterprise , up the Red River. Fulton and Livingston, who claimed the exclusive right to navigate Louisiana waters by steamboat, sued Shreve in the District Court of New Orleans. The judge ruled that the monopoly claimed by the plaintiffs was illegal. That decision, along with a similar outcome in Gibbons v. Ogden , freed navigation on every river, lake or harbor in the United States from interference by monopolies. When John Quincy Adams became Secretary of State in 1817, one of his highest priorities

336-550: A stream may be nearly dry. Log jams can provide refuge, as velocity shelters, during high-flow periods. It has been suggested that log jams are an aspect of trees acting as ecosystem engineers to alter river habitats to promote tree growth. In dynamic braided rivers , such as the Tagliamento River in Italy, where the dominant tree species is the black poplar , fallen trees form log jams when they are deposited on bars; fine sediment

384-518: Is characterized by flat, fertile agricultural land, with only a few major cities. The drainage basin of the Red River is very arid and receives little precipitation . As a result, much of the river above the Texas–Oklahoma border is intermittent, and until the river is past its great bend south in Arkansas, the flow varies widely. Most of the agriculture in the basin is sustained by groundwater , which

432-460: Is deposited around these log jams, and sprouting seedlings are able to stabilise braid bars and promote the formation of stable islands in the river. These stable islands are then prime areas for establishment of seedlings and further vegetation growth, which in turn can eventually provide more fallen trees to the river and thus form more log jams. In large rivers in the Pacific Northwest of

480-630: Is formed in Randall County, Texas , near the county seat of Canyon , by the confluence of Tierra Blanca Creek and intermittent Palo Duro Creek (not to be confused with another Palo Duro Creek 75 miles to the north, which drains into the North Canadian River ). It turns and flows southeast through Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park at an elevation of 3,440 feet (1,050 m), and past Newlin, Texas , to cross

528-511: Is recharged with rainfall and riverflow. The lower course of the river flows through a series of marshes and swamps , where its flow is dramatically moderated. Native American cultures along the river were diverse, developing specialized adaptations to the many different environments. Starting near the headwaters, the Plains division of the Lipan Apache dominated the western Red River area until

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576-650: The Adams–Onís Treaty (in force 1821) until the Texas Annexation and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . The Red River is the second-largest river basin in the southern Great Plains . It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows east, where it serves as the border between the states of Texas and Oklahoma . It forms a short border between Texas and Arkansas before entering Arkansas. It forms much of

624-657: The Blue River , as well as the Ouachita River (also known as the Black River at that point) not far (at Acme, Louisiana ) from the mouth. The Red River is salty through tributaries above Lake Texoma . The saltiness is caused by a natural phenomenon that dates back to ancient times. About 250 million years ago, an inland sea blanketed parts of what is now those states. As time passed, that sea evaporated, leaving salt deposits – mostly sodium chloride. Rock and silt eventually buried

672-693: The North Fork or the Prairie Dog Town Fork is the true stem. Because of a cartographic error, the land between the north and south forks were claimed by both the state of Texas and the United States federal government . In 1852, Randolph B. Marcy 's expedition had followed the Prairie Dog Town Fork. Originally called Greer County, Texas , the US Supreme Court ruled that it belonged to

720-553: The Red and Atchafalaya rivers in North America from perhaps the 12th century until its removal in the 1830s. It was unique in North America in terms of its scale. The Great Raft possibly began forming in the 12th century, or earlier. It grew from its upper end, while decaying or washing out at the lower end. By the early 1830s, it spanned more than 160 miles (260 km). The raft, at one point, extended for 165 miles (266 km) from Loggy Bayou to Carolina Bluffs. Because of its scale,

768-563: The Red River of the South to differentiate it from the Red River in the north of the continent, is a major river in the Southern United States . It was named for its reddish water color from passing through red-bed country in its watershed . It is known as the Red River of the South to distinguish it from the Red River of the North , which flows between Minnesota and North Dakota into

816-641: The Rio Grande , and was sent home by the Spanish authorities. A more successful exploration of the river's upper reaches to both its sources came with the 1852 expedition under Capt. Randolph Barnes Marcy , assisted by Brevet Capt. George B. McClellan . (A decade later McClellan became an important general in the American Civil War .) In April 1815, Captain Henry Miller Shreve was the first person to bring

864-582: The Wichita River about 25 miles northeast of the city of Wichita Falls . Near Denison , the river exits the eastern end of Lake Texoma , a reservoir formed by the Denison Dam . The lake is also fed by the Washita River from the north. Beyond the dam it runs generally east towards Arkansas and receives Oklahoma's Muddy Boggy Creek on the left bank before turning southward near Texarkana . Soon after,

912-469: The 18th century, when they were displaced by invading Comanche from the north. The middle part of the Red River was dominated by the Wichita and Tonkawa . This area was prairie , where Native Americans constructed portable and temporary tepees for housing. They practiced limited farming and followed game in seasonal, nomadic hunting cycles. By the time of European contact, the eastern Piney Woods of

960-855: The Canadian province of Manitoba . Although once a tributary of the Mississippi River , the Red River is now a tributary of the Atchafalaya River , a distributary of the Mississippi that flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico. This confluence is connected to the Mississippi River by the Old River Control Structure . The south bank of the Red River formed part of the US–Mexico border from

1008-455: The Great Raft became incorporated in the mythology of the regional Caddo tribe , which had been in the area for thousands of years. They credited it with protecting them from competing tribes, as well as intermittently causing floods on the land and making it fertile for agriculture. Harrelson et al. describe the origins of the raft: This ecosystem of entangled logs, vegetation and sediments remained in place for almost two millennia, altering

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1056-602: The Mississippi River. Its waters eventually become a tributary of the Atchafalaya River and flow generally southward into the Gulf of Mexico . Tributaries include the Little Red River , Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River , Salt Fork Red River , North Fork Red River , Cross Bayou , Pease River , Washita River , Kiamichi River , Wichita River , Little Wichita River , Little River , Sulphur River , Bayou Brevelle , Loggy Bayou (through Lake Bistineau and Dorcheat Bayou ),

1104-623: The Missouri, the most interesting water of the Mississippi", in a letter to explorer William Dunbar . Having threaded the maze of bayous at the river's confluence, and the " Great Raft " of lodged driftwood, the expedition was stopped by the Spanish near present-day New Boston, Texas . In 1806, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike , under orders to ascertain the source of the Red River, ascended the Arkansas River , made his way downstream on what turned out to be

1152-489: The Oklahoma National Guard to reopen the bridge that July. Texas had to retreat when lawyers determined that Oklahoma had jurisdiction over both banks of the river. In June 2015, the Red River flooded parts of northeast Texas, southwest Arkansas, southeast Oklahoma and Louisiana, from Denison Dam , to just south of Alexandria, Louisiana . The river reached its highest level in over 70 years, cresting in most of

1200-642: The Oklahoma state line. About 2 miles south of Elmer, Oklahoma , the Salt Fork of the Red River joins from the north. These combined waters receive the North Fork Red River from the north about 10 mi (16 km) west-southwest of Frederick, Oklahoma to form the Red River proper. The combined river proceeds to follow a winding course east through one of the most arid parts of the Great Plains , receiving

1248-593: The United States Congress consented in October 2000 to the Red River Boundary Compact adopted in 1999 by the states of Oklahoma and Texas . This set the jurisdictional boundary between these states at the vegetation line on the south bank, but left title of adjacent property owners at the south bank. (The Red River actively meanders, as shown by a comparison of maps of the political boundaries defined by

1296-469: The United States, it has been shown there is a lifecycle of tree growth and river migration, with large trees falling into the channel as banks erode, then staying in place and acting as focal points for log jam formation. These log jams act as hard points, resisting further erosion and channel migration. The areas of floodplain behind these log jams then become stable enough for more large trees to grow, which can in turn become potential log jam anchor points in

1344-559: The United States, which at the time oversaw the Oklahoma Territory . That territory was later incorporated into the state of Oklahoma , whose southern border follows the south fork. Today, the southern Prairie Dog Town Fork is considered the main fork, though the North Fork is as long and normally has a greater water flow. The southern fork is generally considered the main stem of the Red River and about 120 miles (190 km) long. It

1392-519: The area of present-day Natchitoches Parish was settled by French Creole and mixed-race Louisiana Creole people , starting before 1800. The Cane River National Heritage Area is recognized to mark this area of influence, with plantations and churches founded by Louisiana Creoles. Some of the sites are designated as destinations on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail , established from 2008 onwards. The area along

1440-455: The deposits, but the salt continues to leach through natural seeps in tributaries above Lake Texoma, sending as much as 3,450 tons of salt per day flowing down the Red River. The Red River's watershed covers 65,590 square miles (169,900 km ) and is the southernmost major river system in the Great Plains . Its drainage basin is mostly in the states of Texas and Oklahoma, but also covers parts of New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. Its basin

1488-558: The eastern border of Miller County, Arkansas , turning south near Fulton and flowing into Louisiana , where it feeds the Atchafalaya River. The total length of the river is 1,360 miles (2,190 km), with a mean flow of over 57,000 cubic feet per second (1,600 m /s) at the mouth. The Red River begins at the junction of Buck Creek and Prairie Dog Town Fork , in Harmon County, Oklahoma . Specialists have debated whether

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1536-425: The flow regime of the Red River and causing a complete change in its geomorphic character from a single channel to a series of anastomosing channels. It is believed that the initial formation of the Great Raft was triggered by catastrophic flooding as the Red River was going through some major geomorphic threshold, such as a major avulsion . The main contributors to the development of the Great Raft are believed to be

1584-410: The future. "Logjam" or "log jam" can be used metaphorically to mean "deadlock" or "impasse." It can be used either more literally, to mean a physical impasse, or more metaphorically, to mean an impasse in a process due to differing opinions, legal or technical issues, etc. Here are two example sentences: Great Raft The Great Raft was an enormous log jam or series of " rafts " that clogged

1632-518: The largest known log jam is over 3 million tonnes in the Mackenzie River in Canada's Northwest Territories . It contains more than 400,000 caches of wood and stores 3.4 million tons of carbon, equivalent to a year's emissions from 2.5 million cars. Log jams are not to be confused with man-made timber rafts created by loggers or the intentional release of large masses of trees into the water during

1680-477: The lower Red River of Grant Parish, Louisiana and neighboring parishes had a mixture of hill-country farms and cotton plantations. In the early 19th century, settlers found that much of the river's length in Louisiana was unnavigable because of a collection of fallen trees that formed a Great Raft over 160 miles (260 km) long. In 1839, Captain Henry Miller Shreve began clearing the log jam, but it

1728-541: The lower river courses were dominated by the numerous historic tribes of the Caddo Confederacy . They found plentiful game and fish, and also had good land for cultivating staple crops. In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Red River Expedition to explore parts of the new lands of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by traveling up the Red River. Jefferson wrote that the river was "in truth, next to

1776-521: The massive log jams hastened the capture of the Mississippi River 's waters in lower Louisiana by the Atchafalaya River , a major distributary emptying separately into the Gulf of Mexico . In the 20th century, to maintain the Mississippi, the US Army Corps of Engineers built the multibillion-dollar Old River Control Structure . Red River of the South The Red River , or sometimes

1824-484: The mouth of Twelve Mile Bayou , impeding settlement in the area west of Shreveport. There were many smaller logjams on the Red River. The raft raised the banks of the river, creating bayous and several lakes. Called the Great Raft Lakes, these included Caddo and Cross Lakes , along the lower reaches of the Red River 's tributaries. Ports developed along these lakes, and Jefferson, Texas , on Caddo Lake became

1872-399: The raft up to the mouth of Twelvemile Bayou. He concluded this work in 1838, having removed the last impediment to navigation on the Red River. This task was continued by others until the latter part of the 19th century. For his efforts, the city of Shreveport was named after him. Although Shreve had completely removed the original raft, another soon formed farther up the river. The new foot

1920-558: The river's course decades ago and currently.) The Red River Campaign (March–May 1864) was fought along the Red River Valley in Louisiana during the American Civil War . It was part of a failed attempt by the Union to occupy eastern Texas. Confederate commander Richard Taylor succeeded in repelling an army under Nathaniel Banks that was three times bigger than his own. In Louisiana,

1968-592: The river's navigation. Harrelson et al. describes this effort: Captain Shreve was a steamboat entrepreneur who had successfully invested in the new steam-power technology by developing the snag boat , a steam-powered boat used for raft removal. He had already used this technology to clear navigational paths in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in 1827. Captain Shreve arrived at the toe of the Great Raft in April 1833 with four snag boats and

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2016-475: The second-largest inland port in the United States during this period. The city thrived and was considered a major gateway to East Texas. It was important for shipping out area commodity crops, such as cotton. In 1829, the US Army Corps of Engineers hired steamboat builder and river captain Henry Miller Shreve (1785–1851), Superintendent of Western River Improvement, to remove the Great Raft to improve

2064-418: The shifting geomorphic conditions in conjunction with extensive precipitation, river bank rotational slips and slab failure, rapid lateral migration, copious, rapidly growing riparian vegetation, exceeding a geomorphic threshold, a flashy hydrograph and a very heavy sediment load. At the beginning of the 19th century, the raft extended from Campti, Louisiana , to around Shreveport, Louisiana . The raft blocked

2112-603: The slope of the river (and thus the potential power of the stream); in steep channels, log jams tend to form channel-spanning steplike structures with an associated downstream scour pool, whereas in large lowland rivers with low slopes, log jams tend to be partial structures primarily acting to deflect flow with minimal geomorphological change. Log jams provide important fish habitat. The pools created and sediment deposited by formation of log jams create prime spawning grounds for many species of salmon . These pools also provide refuge for fish during low water levels when other parts of

2160-473: The waterway crosses south into Louisiana . The sister cities of Shreveport and Bossier City were developed on either bank of the river, as were the downriver cities of Alexandria and Pineville . After being joined from the north by the Black River (downstream name of the Ouachita River , its largest tributary) about 1.5 miles south of Acme , the river broadens into a complex network of marshlands west of

2208-534: Was at the head of the old raft, near today's Belcher, Louisiana . This second raft gradually extended until it reached the Arkansas state line. This was removed in 1873 by Lieutenant Eugene Woodruff. When the log jams were removed, the water level in Caddo Lake and others dropped dramatically, reducing their navigability for riverboats. The ports declined, and riverboats ceased to travel in Caddo Lake. The removal of

2256-480: Was not completely cleared until the 1870s, when dynamite became available. The river was thereafter navigable, but north of Natchitoches it was restricted to small craft. Removal of the raft further connected the Red and Atchafalaya rivers, accelerating the development of the Atchafalaya River channel. The Red River Bridge War of 1931 was a boundary conflict between Oklahoma and Texas over an existing toll bridge and

2304-833: Was to negotiate with Spain about the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. He negotiated with Luis de Onís , the Spanish Minister to the United States, and finally concluded the Adams–Onis Treaty , also known as the Treaty of 1819. The treaty defined the south bank of the river as the boundary between the United States and Spain, as of when it was surveyed and demarcated following 1819. That boundary continued to be recognized when Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and ongoingly when Texas became independent from Mexico in 1835–1836. It remained an official boundary until

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