The Arikaree River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the central Great Plains of North America. It lies mostly in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, draining land between the North and South Forks of the Republican River, and it flows into the North Fork in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

after flowing a short distance through

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. It is a designated area within the Colorado Natural Areas Program to protect native and uncommon species that may be endangered or threatened.

Name

The river is named after the

Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)

Native Americans, whose name refers to "horn".

Geography

The source of the Arikaree River is in extreme eastern

Elbert County, Colorado Elbert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,062. The county seat is Kiowa and the largest town is Elizabeth. Elbert County is included in the Denver-Aurora- Lakewood, CO Metr ...

on the western edge of the

High Plains High Plains refers to one of two distinct land regions: * High Plains (United States), land region of the western Great Plains *High Plains (Australia) The High Plains of south-eastern Australia are a sub-region, or more strictly a string of adja ...

region of the Great Plains. From there, the river flows generally northeast across the High Plains in eastern Colorado. It then crosses the extreme northwestern corner of

before entering far southwestern

. At the town of Haigler, the Arikaree joins with 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, Colo ...

to form the Republican River. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of

Yuma County, Colorado Yuma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,988. The county seat is Wray. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and ...

and into

Cheyenne County, Kansas Cheyenne County (county code CN) is a county located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,616. Its county seat and most populous city is St. Francis. History Early history ...

, located at , is the lowest point in Colorado at an elevation of . It holds the distinction of being the highest low point of any

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 sove ...

, higher than the ''highest'' points of 18 states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

History

Along the river is the site of the 1868

Battle of Beecher Island The Battle of Beecher Island, also known as the Battle of Arikaree Fork, was an armed conflict between elements of the United States Army and several of the Plains Native American tribes in September 1868. Beecher Island, on the Arikaree Rive ...

Arikaree River Natural Area

The Arikaree River has been made one of the designated areas under the Colorado Natural Areas Program because it is "part of the largest and best remaining example of a naturally functioning Great Plains river system in Colorado." It has several species of reptiles, fish, and amphibians that are native and uncommon. The area is a sanctuary for many bird species, including

burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...

ferruginous hawk The ferruginous hawk, (''Buteo regalis''), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (''B. lagopus''). ...

s, and

greater prairie chicken The greater prairie chicken or pinnated grouse (''Tympanuchus cupido''), sometimes called a boomer,Friederici, Peter (July 20, 1989)"The Last Prairie Chickens" ''Chicago Reader''. Retrieved August 27, 2014.（Chinese 中文：帕艺明彩大凤� ...

s. The habitat is near-pristine and there are high-quality

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

and native prairie plants.

References

External links