Brazos River
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The Brazos River is the longest river in Texas, running 1360 km (840 mi) from the center of the state to the Gulf of Mexico. Its 116,000 kmē (44,620 sq mi) watershed reaches all the way to New Mexico.
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). 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.
Initially running east towards Dallas, the Brazos turns south, passing through Waco, then by Bryan and College Station, then through Sugar Land in Fort Bend County, and into the Gulf in the marshes just south of Freeport.
The Brazos is dammed in three places, all north of Waco, forming Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury and Lake Whitney. Of these three, Granbury was the last to be completed, in 1969, and its proposed construction in the mid-1950's became the impetus for John Graves's book, Goodbye to a River.
It is unclear as 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. 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.
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. The water is administered by the Brazos River Authority.
See also
External link
- Handbook of Texas article on the Brazos (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/BB/rnb7.html)
- Map View of the Brazos (http://encarta.msn.com/map_701511300/Brazos.html)