Tenkiller Ferry Lake, or more simply, Lake Tenkiller, is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in eastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

formed by the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

ming of the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

. The earth-fill dam was constructed between 1947 and 1952 by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

for purposes of

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

control,

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

generation, water supply and recreation. It went into full operation in 1953.Warner, Badger and Lage, 1973. The lake and dam were named for the Tenkiller family, prominent

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

s who owned the land and ferry that were bought for the project.A Little History of the Tenkiller Lake Area.
''www.tenkiller.net'' Accessed May 4, 2013. This is the 6th largest lake in Oklahoma, based on water capacity.

Geography

The lake covers and has a shoreline of over in the

Cookson Hills The Cookson Hills are in eastern Oklahoma. They are an extension of the Boston Mountains of Arkansas to the east and the southwestern margin of the Ozark Plateau. They lie generally between Stilwell, Sallisaw and Tahlequah. The area became part ...

of the Ozark Mountains of

and

Sequoyah Sequoyah ( ; , , or , , ; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native American polymath and Constructed script, neographer of the Cherokee Nation. In 1821, Sequoyah completed his Cherokee syllabary, enabl ...

counties, about northeast of the town of

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

and from the intersection of I-40 and the

Muskogee Turnpike The Muskogee Turnpike, also designated State Highway 351 (SH-351), is a controlled-access toll road in eastern Oklahoma. Route description Opened in 1969, the 53-mile (85.2 km) route begins at the Broken Arrow Expressway ( SH-51) southe ...

. The distance from major cities include: east of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, west of

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

, southeast of

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and from Muskogee. One of the townships bordering this lake is Paradise Hill, at the far southwestern edge of the lake. It is known for its violent drop-offs, some going from a grown man's waist level to over his head. This is the cause of many deaths in the lake.

Electric power generation

The

hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

is remotely controlled from the control center at

Fort Gibson Lake The Fort Gibson Dam is a gravity dam on the Grand (Neosho) River in Oklahoma, north of the town of Fort Gibson. The dam forms Fort Gibson Lake. The primary purposes of the dam and lake are flood control and hydroelectric power production, altho ...

. Two generators, each rated for 17 megawatts, provide a total capacity of 34 megawatts (MWe). The facility can handle 40 MWe for a short period of time. However, the amount of power that can actually be generated depends heavily on the lake elevation at any given time.

Water supply

Originally, the amount of water delivered by the project was considered incidental, although the quality of water was much higher than that of the Arkansas River (the closest alternative source). Much of this water was expected to be used by the Kerr-McGee Nuclear Fuel Plant. That plant closed in 1975. The cities of Muskogee and Sallisaw are now major consumers.

Recreation

Attractions near the lake include scuba diving, camping, hiking, fishing, golfing, water sports, scenic nature, fishing, and hunting. In addition there are of trout fishing along the Illinois River. There are also ten marinas, fourteen parks, 24 boat launching ramps, five

floating restaurant A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or Hulk (ship type), hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen, Hong Kong, Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest ...

s, and many islands including Goat Island which is famous for the goats that inhabit it.Lake Tenkiller area visitors guide.
''www.laketenkiller.com'' Accessed May 4, 2013. Scuba divers can even see the ruins of old communities that were flooded by the lake, such as the original town of Cookson. This lake is the venue of several fishing tournaments including the popular Bassmaster series championship. Other than the goats, many other animals inhabit the area including

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...

, white tail deer, ducks, monarch butterflies, warblers, otters, mink, beaver, bear, mountain lion, wild hogs, wild turkey and bald eagles.

Tenkiller State Park Tenkiller State Park is a Oklahoma state park located in northwestern Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, near the towns of Vian, Oklahoma and Gore, Oklahoma. Larger towns nearby include Sallisaw, Gore, and Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. The park adjoins ...

, Cherokee Landing State Park, and several Corps parks are among the parks bordering the lake.

Wildlife Management Area

The Tenkiller Wildlife Management Area consists of on the southwest shoreline of the lake, a mixture of upland and

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

habitat. The upland portion is covered with oak and hickory. The riparian portion contains mostly willow, sycamore, hackberry, elm, ash and birch.

Notes

References

External links

*
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers websiteU.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Corps Lake GetawayU.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake websiteLake Tenkiller Home Page
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121024013411/http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territorybr>Warner, Larkin; Daniel D. Badger; and Gerald M. Lage. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District. "Impact Study of the Construction and Operation of the Tenkiller Ferry Lake, Oklahoma. August 1973.
* {{authority control Protected areas of Cherokee County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma Reservoirs in Oklahoma Dams completed in 1952 Dams in Oklahoma United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Cherokee County, Oklahoma Bodies of water of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma 1952 establishments in Oklahoma Illinois River (Oklahoma)