The Brazos River is the 11th longest river in the United States, at 1280 miles (2060 km), beginning at Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico and flowing 840 miles through the middle of Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. Its 116,000 km² (44,620 sq mi) watershed reaches all the way to New Mexico. Originally called, "The Rio Brazos de Dios", "The River of God's Arms".

The Brazos proper begins at the confluence of its Salt Fork and Double Mountain Fork (which rises west of Lubbock and passes through the city). Its main tributaries are the Clear Fork of the Brazos, which passes by Abilene and joins the main river near Graham; Bosque River; Little River; Yegua Creek; and Navasota River.

Initially running east towards Dallas-Fort Worth, the Brazos turns south, passing through Waco, then by Bryan-College Station, then through Sugar Land, and into the Gulf of Mexico in the marshes just south of Freeport.

The Brazos is dammed in three places, all north of Waco, forming Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury and Lake Whitney. Of these three, Granbury was the last to be completed, in 1969, and its proposed construction in the mid-1950s became the impetus for John Graves' book, Goodbye to a River.

It is unclear as when it was first named by European explorers, since it was often confused with the Colorado River not far to the south, but it was certainly seen by La Salle. Later Spanish accounts call it "Los Brazos de Dios" (the arms of God), for which name there were several different explanations, all involving it being the first water to be found by desperately thirsty parties.

While the river was important for navigation before the American Civil War, it is primarily important today as a source of water for power and irrigation. The water is administered by the Brazos River Authority.

See also

• List of Texas rivers
• Stonewall County
• USS Brazos (AO-4) — a fleet oiler built in 1919.

External links

• Map View of the Brazos
• Historic photos of Army Corps of Engineers lock and dam projects on the Brazos River, 1910-20s, from the Portal to Texas History
• See an 1858 map Preliminary chart of entrance to Brazos River, Texas / from a trigonometrical survey under the direction of A. Bache ; triangulation by J.S. Williams ; topography by J.M. Wampler ; hydrography by the parties under the command of E.J. De Haven & J.K. Duer., hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
• Brazos River Authority

References

Rivers of Texas | Gulf of Mexico | Fort Bend County, Texas

Brazos