Pawnee River

The Pawnee River or Pawnee Fork is a river in western Kansas in the United States, about 198 miles (319 km) long.[5] It is a tributary of the Arkansas River, which in turn is a branch of the Mississippi River.

Pawnee River Pawnee Fork, Otter River
Etymology	Named for the Pawnee, a Native American tribe that once inhabited a region bounded on the south by the river
Location
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Cities	Ravanna, Burdett, Rozel, Larned
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of several unnamed streams and drainage channels
• location	About 30 miles (48 km) of Garden City, in Gray County
• coordinates	37°57′57″N 100°35′55″W[1]
• elevation	2,835 ft (864 m)
Mouth	Arkansas River
• location	Larned, Pawnee County
• coordinates	38°10′07″N 99°05′44″W[1]
• elevation	1,985 ft (605 m)
Length	198 mi (319 km), East-northeast
Basin size	2,701 sq mi (7,000 km^2)[2]
Discharge
• location	Rozel, 22 miles (35 km) from the mouth[3]
• average	57.9 cu ft/s (1.64 m^3/s)[4]
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m^3/s)
• maximum	16,300 cu ft/s (460 m^3/s)
Basin features
River system	Arkansas River basin
Tributaries
• right	Buckner Creek

It rises in northwestern Gray County at an elevation of 2,835 feet (864 m), as the outflow of several agricultural drainage channels. For 20 miles (32 km) the river runs due north, before turning northeast near Ravanna. The river arcs to the south and receives Buckner Creek, its main tributary at the town of Burdett, then flows east past Rozel and through Fort Larned National Historic Site. It joins the Arkansas River on the left bank, south of the city of Larned.[6]

This river drains an arid farming region of about 2,700 square miles (7,000 km²) of the Great Plains. Most of its flow is consumed by irrigation before it reaches the mouth, and the river dries up for periods of months at a time in most years.[2] The land surrounding the river was originally inhabited by the Kansa, Cheyenne, Osage, Pawnee and other tribes, the latter for which the river is named. The river was a route for the Santa Fe Trail in the 19th century, and was also the scene of Native American-U.S. wars in 1854, after which Fort Larned was established on the river to maintain a permanent military presence in the region.[7][8]

See also

• List of rivers of Kansas

References

1. "Pawnee River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1978-10-13. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
2. "Pawnee-Buckner Subbasin: 2009 Field Analysis Summary" (PDF). Kansas Department of Agriculture. 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
3. "USGS Gage #07141200 on the Pawnee River at Rozel, Kansas" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1925-present. Retrieved 2010-11-21. Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "USGS Gage #07141200 on the Pawnee River at Rozel, Kansas" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1925-present. Retrieved 2010-11-21. Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 29, 2011
6. USGS Topo Maps for United States (Map). Cartography by United States Geological Survey. ACME Mapper. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
7. "Pawnee River". Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. Blue Skyways. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
8. "Fort Larned National Historic Site, Kansas". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-11-21.