The Republican River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the central

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, rising in the High Plains of eastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 25, 2011 through the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Geography

The Republican River is formed by the confluence of the

North Fork Republican River The North Fork Republican River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 29, 2011 tributary of the Republican River. It flows eastward from a source in Yuma County, Co ...

and the

Arikaree River The Arikaree River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America. It lies mostly in the United States, American state of Colorado, draining land between the North and South Forks of the Republican River, and it flows into the North F ...

just north of Haigler in Dundy County, Nebraska. It joins with the South Fork Republican River immediately southeast of Benkelman, Nebraska. All three tributaries originate in the High Plains of northeastern

. From the confluence, the river flows generally eastward along the southern border of

, passing through Swanson Reservoir and Harlan County Reservoir before curving southward into the

Smoky Hills The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the Midwestern United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a diss ...

region of

. The Republican River joins the Smoky Hill River at

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major United States Army, U.S. ...

to form the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a meandering river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is potentially the southwestern most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is sometimes in turn the northwesternmost portion of ...

. Some cities along the river are

McCook, Nebraska McCook is a city in and the county seat of Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,446 at the 2020 census. History McCook was platted in 1882 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that poin ...

Clay Center, Kansas Clay Center is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Kansas, Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,199. History Clay Center was first settled in 1862. It ...

, Concordia, Kansas and

. Near Concordia is the Republican River Pegram Truss, a bridge that goes over the Republican River that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

The river was named after a branch of

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

Indians known as "the Republicans". As early as 1785, the Spanish and French had identified one of the villages of the Pawnee people as ''aldea de la Republica'' (''little village of the Republic''). A French traders' custom was to name rivers for the tribal villages located on their banks. In this way, the north fork of the Kansas River was named ''Fourche des Republiques'' or ''Fork of the Republics''. The Kitkehahkis Pawnee villages farmed corn, beans, and pumpkin in the fertile Republican valley floor but seasonally left to hunt buffalo in the plains to the west and south. The Kitkehahkis, or Republican Pawnee, occasionally abandoned and relocated various villages along the Republican River. In 1806, first the Spanish and then the Americans journeyed to the large Kitkehahkis village on Republican River, the Pike-Pawnee Village Site then near the present Guide Rock, Nebraska. Both parties were seeking the tribe's assistance in enforcing competing claims to the

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of t ...

. Leading the much smaller American expedition, Lieutenant

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...

convinced the Kitkehahkis to accept the American Flag in place of the Spanish. In 1853,

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

was established at the junction of the Republican with the Smoky Hill and Kansas Rivers. American settlement of the lower Republican River in began in the 1860s. Prior to 1864, the Kansas River was publicly navigable under Kansas law. A side-wheel steamboat of 125 tons burden, ''Financier No. 2'', reached the Republican River in 1855 and ascended it some 40 miles. However, in 1864, railroad interests passed a bill through the Kansas Legislature entitled, "An act declaring the Kansas, Republican, Smoky Hill, Solomon, and Big Blue rivers not navigable, and authorizing the bridging of the same." Railroads were thus permitted to bridge or dam the Republican as if it were never declared navigable. The Kansas Pacific Railway reached the fork of the Republican in 1866, crossing into the Junction City town site. The Junction City and Fort Kearney Railroad was constructed up the valley of the Republican to Clay Center in 1873. The 1864 law was repealed in 1913; however, under Kansas Law, public access, whether for transport or recreation, is permitted only on publicly owned rivers. The State of Kansas owns only the Kansas and

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

s as well as the portion of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

adjoining the northeastern corner of the state. As such, the limit of public river access is at the mouth of the Republican River. A public boat access ramp was opened on the mouth of the Republican River in 2009 just upstream of the railroad bridge, providing access to the upper end of the Kansas River National Water Trail, a part of the National Water Trail program. Milford Lake, the largest man-made lake in Kansas, was completed on the Republican in 1967.

Republican River Compact

Allocation of the water from the Republican River is governed through an agreement called the Republican River Compact, involving the states of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, as modified by the settlement of a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

case (Kansas vs. Nebraska and Colorado) involving a water-use dispute under the Compact.

Major flooding

July 1902

On July 9, 1902, the river flooded near Concordia, Kansas, breaking a dam and re-routing the river by a quarter-mile (about half a kilometer).

May/June 1935

The storm of May 31 and June 1, 1935, (called "Nebraska's Deadliest Flood") dumped an average rainfall of on the river's watershed. This storm was also unique in that it moved in the same direction as the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. As a result, the Frenchman, Red Willow, Medicine, Deer, Muddy, and Turkey creeks all reached their flood peaks at the same time as the crest passed on the Republican River. According to witness accounts, the roar of the water could be heard coming down the Republican Valley away. Many survivors also reported that there were two crests - the water came up on May 28, then receded slightly, but the second crest on June 1 greatly exceeded the first. At one point, the water rose in 30 minutes and was higher than the previous record crest. One eyewitness said the water level rose in some places at 10 miles per hour or more. Another account states that the Republican rose in 12 minutes in McCook, destroying the structures in its path. Water was deep in some places, and the discharge was , more than 320 times the normal flow today. Estimates show 113 people killed. From 11,400 to 41,500 head of cattle were killed; one report said that carcasses littering the roads made them impassable. A total of of highway and 307 bridges were destroyed, and of farmland were inundated.Nebraska State Historical Society
"Republican Flood of 1935-Nebraska's Deadliest Flood"

References

External links