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The San Saba River is a river in the
article by Reeve Hamilton in ''
The San Saba River is a river in 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 sove ...
of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. It is an undeveloped and scenic waterway located on the northern boundary of the Edwards Plateau
The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihua ...
.
Course
The river begins in two primary branches. The North Valley Prong runs east through Schleicher County for 37 miles, while the Middle Valley Prong runs 35 miles through the same county. Both merge nearFort McKavett
The Fort McKavett State Historic Site is a former United States Army installation located in Menard County, Texas. The fort was first established in 1852 as part of a line of forts in Texas intended to protect migrants traveling to California. T ...
to form the San Saba River, which flows another 140 miles east/northeast until it drains into the Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
east of the city of San Saba.
A major tributary is Brady Creek, which is 90 miles long and parallels the path of the San Saba to the north.
History
The river was named by the governor ofSpanish Texas
Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. The term "interior provinces" first appeared in 1712, as an expression meaning "far away" provinces. It was only in 1776 that a leg ...
, Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos
Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos (Zevallos) was a soldier and politician who served as governor of Province of Texas (1730–1734) and Coahuila, New Spain (1754–1756). He also served as ''alcalde ordinario'' (ordinary mayor) in Mexico Cit ...
, in 1732. He called it ''Río de San Sabá de las Nueces'' ("River of Saint Sabbas of the Walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s"), because he and his troops had arrived December 5, the feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...
of St. Sabbas (439–532), a major figure of early Christian monastic life.
Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission was established on the river in 1757.
Management
, the San Saba River was an overappropriated stream with large stretches of the river dry, depriving downstream riparian users of water, while upstream flow was being diminished by pumping of aquifers hydrologically connected to the stream."Concerns About a Shrinking River Are Beginning to Heat Up"article by Reeve Hamilton in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' July 18, 2013
See also
*List of rivers of Texas
The list of rivers of Texas is a list of all named waterways, including rivers and streams that partially pass through or are entirely located within the U.S. state of Texas. Across the state, there are 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers acc ...
References
External links
* Rivers of Texas Rivers of McCulloch County, Texas Rivers of Schleicher County, Texas Rivers of Sutton County, Texas Rivers of Menard County, Texas Rivers of Mason County, Texas Rivers of San Saba County, Texas Tributaries of the Colorado River (Texas) {{Texas-river-stub