Walnut River (Kansas)

The Walnut River is a tributary of the Arkansas River, 154 miles (248 km) long,[1] in the Flint Hills region of Kansas in the United States. Via the Arkansas, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

According to the GNIS, the river has also been known in the past as the "Little Verdigris River".

Contents

Course

The Walnut River rises in northern Butler County and flows generally southward through Butler and Cowley Counties, past the towns of El Dorado, Augusta, Winfield and Douglass. It joins the Arkansas River at Arkansas City. The Walnut's principal tributaries are the Whitewater River, which joins it at Augusta, and the Little Walnut River, which joins it in southern Butler County. The Walnut River drainage basin comprises 2,380 square miles (6,200 km2) in an ecoregion characterized by rocky, rolling hills and prairie. Elevations range from 1,050 to 1,625 feet (320 to 495 m) in the basin. Average precipitation, mostly summer rainfall, varies from 32 to 38 inches (810 to 970 mm) annually. Tallgrass prairie is the most common vegetation, covering 66 percent of the land. Crop land covers 23 percent and woodlands cover five percent. Major crops are wheat, soybeans, cotton, hay, sorgum, and corn. Cattle are the most important livestock.[2]

Upstream of El Dorado, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam causes the river to form El Dorado Lake, along which a Kansas state park has been designated. The lake consists of about 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of water with another 8,000 acres of land along its shores designated as park and wildlife areas.[3] The other large lake in the Walnut River basin is Winfield City Lake with 1,250 acres (510 ha) of water surrounded by 1,150 acres (470 ha) of parkland.[4] Both lakes offer recreational opportunities including fishing, boating, hunting, camping, and wildlife observation.

In Winfield, the old Tunnel Mill Dam is a great fishing spot. It is staged directly near the old Kickapoo Corral. A whirlpool is created by a hole in solid limestone about 15 feet (4.6 m) down on the river bed directly of the cliffs of the Corral. Be prepared to get dirty if you want to wade in the river. It is sandy and somewhat rocky.

Near the mouth of the Walnut River, just east of Arkansas City, are a large number of archaeological sites. These are believed to be the remains of a Indian settlement visited in 1601 by New Mexico governor Juan de Onate. Onate called the Indians Rayados. They were almost certainly Wichita Indians. Based on Onate's description of the settlement, 10,000 or more Wichita lived along several miles of the Walnut River.[5][6][7]

Festival

The Walnut Valley Festival is held along the banks in Winfield.

See also

Sources

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 29, 2011
  2. ^ "Walnut River Basin." http://www.kwo.org/Kansas%20Plan/SWP/KWP_2008/Vol_III_Docs/WAL/Rpt_WAL_Basin_Description_KWP2009.pdf
  3. ^ "Walnut River Basin." http://www.kwo.org/Kansas%20Plan/SWP/KWP_2008/Vol_III_Docs/WAL/Rpt_WAL_Basin_Description_KWP2009.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.naturalkansas.org/winfield.htm
  5. ^ Vehik, Susan C. "Onate's Expedition to the Southern Plains: Routes, Destinations, and Implications for Late Prehistoric Cultural Adaptations." Plains Anthropologist, Vol 31, No. 111, 1986, 13-33
  6. ^ Hawley, Marlin F. "European Contact and Southwestern Artifacts in the Lower Walnut Focus Sites at Arkansas City, Kansas", Plains Anthropologist, Vol 45, No. 173, August 2000, 237-255
  7. ^ "OAS - Oklahoma's Past". Ou.edu. http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/counties/kay.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 

External links