Red River

the southernmost of the great tributaries of the Mississippi. It rises in northern Texas, flows eastward between Indian Territory and Texas, cuts across the southwestern corner of Arkansas, and flows southeastward through Louisiana into the Mississippi. In its passage through the so-called Staked Plains of Texas, the Red River flows through a magnificent canyon 100 miles in length and from 200 to 1,000 feet in depth. In the central part of its course the river has been obstructed by floating rafts of dead timber and debris, the accumulations of centuries. One of these was over 100 miles in length. Every season of high water brought down more old logs and trees, until the raft spread out for seventy miles in width across a swampy expanse of the river. These obstructions were cleared away at great expense during the seventies. Near its mouth it has a tendency to flow directly southward through a bayou, known as the Atchafalaya, into the Gulf. The state of Louisiana has been at great expense building levees to protect bottom lands from overflow. During high water boats of considerable size ascend as far as Shreveport. Small, shallow craft reach the frontiers of Texas. Although 2,000 miles in length, the river is too wide, shallow, and shifting to be a valuable waterway. In the wooded regions particularly, it widens out into a broad, sluggish swamp with no decisive channel. The flood valley is marvelously fertile.