The Republican 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 ...

in the central

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, rising in 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 ...

of eastern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the 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 western edge of the ...

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. states of

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 ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

Geography

The Republican River is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Republican River and the Arikaree River just north of Haigler in

Dundy County, Nebraska Dundy County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,654. Its county seat is Benkelman. In the Nebraska license plate system, Dundy County is represented by the prefix 76 (it had ...

. It joins with the

South Fork Republican River The South Fork Republican River is a river that arises in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States, and flows east-northeastward for about U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed ...

immediately southeast of Benkelman, Nebraska. All three tributaries originate in the

of northeastern

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

, passing through Swanson Reservoir and

Harlan County Reservoir The Harlan County Reservoir includes a dam and a reservoir of located in Harlan County in south-central Nebraska. Its southernmost part extends into northern Phillips County, Kansas. The reservoir is formed by a dam constructed by the U.S. ...

before curving southward into the Smoky Hills region of

. The Republican River joins the

Smoky Hill River The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through Colorado and Kansas.Smoky Hill River. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.br ...

at Junction City, Kansas to form the Kansas River. Some cities along the river are McCook, Nebraska,

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

, Concordia, Kansas and Junction City, Kansas. Near Concordia is the

Republican River Pegram Truss The Republican River Pegram Truss is a bridge located near Concordia, Kansas that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a three-span through truss bridge over the Republican River on route 795, northeast of Concordia. The ...

, 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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

History

The river was named after a branch of Pawnee 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 ''Forks of the Republicans''. 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. Leading the much smaller American expedition, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike convinced the Kitkehahkis to accept the American Flag in place of the Spanish. In 1853, Fort Riley 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 The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators ...

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 the western United ...

s as well as the portion of the Missouri River 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 involve a point o ...

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. 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