The Red River of the South

Aerial view of Red River, north of Bonham in northeast Texas. Photo courtesy Henley Quadling.

The Red River, also called the Red River of the South, is a major river flowing through the southern United States. The river was named for the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers to claim the red river name. Although it was once a tributary of the Mississippi River, the Red River now flows into the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi that flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Red River is the second-largest river basin in the southern Great Plains. It flows 1,360 miles and rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle. Near the edge of the northwestern slope of the Llano Estacado mesa, the Red River flows in two forks in northern Texas and southwestern Oklahoma. The North Fork Red River meets the southern and largest fork near the Texas– Oklahoma border.

In Texas, the Red River turns and flows southeast through Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park at an elevation of 3,440 feet.

Duro Canyon (from the Spanish meaning “hard wood”) has been named “The Grand Canyon of Texas” both for its size and for its dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls similar to those in the Grand Canyon.

Palo Duro Canyon is located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo and Canyon. It is the second largest canyon in the United States, roughly 120 miles long and has an average width of 6 miles, but reaches a width of 20 miles in places. Its depth is around 820 ft, but in some locations, it increases to 1,000 ft.

The canyon was formed by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, which initially winds along the level surface of the Llano Estacado of West Texas, then suddenly and dramatically runs off the Caprock Escarpment.

Water erosion over the millennia has shaped the canyon’s geological formations.

From here the river passes Newlin, Texas, to meet the Oklahoma state line. Past that point, it is generally considered the main stem of the Red River. Near Elmer, Oklahoma, the North Fork finally joins, and the river proceeds to follow a winding course east through one of the most arid parts of the Great Plains, receiving the Wichita River as it passes 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. Denison Dam, also known as Lake Texoma Dam, is located between Texas and Oklahoma. The dam provides flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power production, river regulation, navigation and recreation.

Next the river runs east towards Arkansas before turning southward near Texarkana.

Soon after, the Red River 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.

Shreveport was founded in 1836 by the Shreve Town Company, a corporation established to develop a town at the juncture of the newly navigable Red River and the Texas Trail, an overland route into the newly independent Republic of Texas. Prior to Texas becoming independent, this trail entered Mexico.

The city grew throughout the 20th century and, after the discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry.

The waters of the Red River eventually discharge into the Atchafalaya River and flow south eastward into the Gulf of Mexico.