Cimarron River
Overview
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The headwaters flow from Johnson Mesa
Johnson Mesa
Johnson Mesa is a prominent mesa in Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico just south of the Colorado border. The city of Raton is on the west and Folsom on the east.-Description:...
west of Folsom
Folsom, New Mexico
Folsom is a village in Union County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 75 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Frances Folsom, the fiancee of President Grover Cleveland.-Geography:Folsom is located at ....
in northeastern New Mexico. The river enters the Oklahoma Panhandle
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Oklahoma Panhandle is the extreme western region of the state of Oklahoma, comprising Cimarron County, Texas County, and Beaver County. Its name comes from the similarity of shape to the handle of a cooking pan....
near Kenton
Kenton, Oklahoma
-History:Kenton was founded in 1893 and served as the county seat for Cimarron County until the citizens of the county voted to move it to Boise City soon after statehood...
, crosses the southeastern corner of Colorado into Kansas, re-enters the Oklahoma Panhandle, re-enters Kansas, and finally returns to Oklahoma where it joins the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
at Keystone Reservoir
Keystone Lake
Keystone Lake is a reservoir in northeastern Oklahoma on the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers. It is located upstream about from Tulsa. It was created in 1968 when the Keystone Dam was completed.Keystone Lake is about in size...
west of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
.
The river's name comes from the early Spanish name, Río de los Carneros Cimarrón, which is usually translated as River of the Wild Sheep.
Unanswered Questions
