Angelina River

Angelina River
Angelina River at Nacogdoches near State Highway 21
Data
Water code	US :  1383018
location	Texas , USA
River system	Sabine Pass
Drain over	Neches River  → Sabine Pass  → Gulf of Mexico
source	in Rusk County near Laneville 32 ° 1 ′ 25 ″  N , 94 ° 49 ′ 35 ″  W
muzzle	in the BA Steinhagen Lake des Neches River coordinates: 30 ° 53 '41 "  N , 94 ° 11' 52"  W, 30 ° 53 '41 "  N , 94 ° 11' 52"  W
length	193 km
Banks of Sam Rayburn Reservoir
A few kilometers from the river: the city center of Nacogdoches

The Angelina River is one of around 193 km length of the medium-long rivers in the US state of Texas and the most important rivers in East Texas . As the largest tributary of the Neches River , it crosses six counties . It rises near the village of Lanesville in Rusk County , crosses the lower reaches the Sam Rayburn Reservoir and flows - along with the Neches River - nearly 20 kilometers below them in the BA Steinhagen Lake , from where the Neches its course south to the Gulf Coast continues . According to tradition, it was named after a Hasinai Indian who was called Angelina by Spanish missionaries .

geography

The source rivers of the Angelina River are the two streams Barnhardt Creek and Shawnee Creek. They arise not far from the village of Laneville in Rusk County. Most of the river runs in a south-easterly direction. It crosses the Sam Rayburn Reservoir on its lower reaches, runs a short distance to the south and flows - together with the Neches River flowing in from the northwest - into the BA Steinhagen Lake. The river system consisting of Neches and Angelina is - after that of the Sabine River , which marks the border between Texas and Louisiana - the most easterly of the river drainage systems that drain the Texan inland into the Gulf of Mexico . At a distance of 10 to 20 kilometers, the two rivers run roughly parallel in a south-easterly direction until they merge at the confluence with the BA Steinhagen reservoir.

Geographically and administratively, the Angelina River crosses six Texas counties. The upper reaches are in Rusk County. Thereafter, the river forms the boundaries between the counties of Cherokee and Nacogdoches , Angelina and Nacogdoches, and Angelina and San Augustine . The confluence with BA Steinhagen Lake is 19 kilometers north of Jasper in Jasper County . The crossing area is characterized by flat, sandy loam soils , the bank vegetation of water-tolerant hardwoods , conifers and meadows . The river landscape shows the lush vegetation typical of East Texas with a thick forest . The water is partly deep and draining slowly; For long stretches of the river, it resembles a winding, larger brook that meanders through the forest landscape .

The upper reaches are seen as particularly scenic - marked by the crossings of Farm-to-Market Road 1798 and State Highway 21. The middle course from State Highway 21 to the confluence with the Sam Rayburn Reservoir is heavily forested. The adjacent river landscape there is largely owned by large timber companies . The lower reaches from the Sam Rayburn Reservoir to the confluence with the significantly smaller BA Steinhagen Reservoir is the most developed for tourism. Due to the Angelina National Forest bordering to the north , infrastructure for water sports activities and camping is also present here. The river width in the last section varies between 20 and 40 meters; the current is also moderate in this section.

history

The existence of the river was known to Spanish and French pioneers exploring the region. At the end of the 18th century , New Spanish settlers founded the first permanent settlements on the river. During the Mexican period in the 1820s, the settlement density increased significantly. A few kilometers from the river bank was the provincial capital Nacogdoches - one of the oldest cities in Texas and the most important settlement in the East Texas region at the time. In 1832 the last offshoot of the Battle of Nacogdoches took place on the riverbank - an armed conflict between Anglo-American colonists and Mexican troops, the outcome of which de facto ended the Mexican military presence in East Texas. In the 1840s, the section between Nacogdoches and Ayish Bayou was opened for shipping . From 1844, the first attempts were made to use the Angelina River for cotton transport. In 1847 the first steamship entered the river.

As a result, shipping was expanded further down the Neches River and a trade network was built up to the Gulf Coast. With the construction of local railroad connections in the 1880s, shipping became more and more unprofitable. Around 1900 this was hardly possible any more technically. The reason was the more extensive agricultural use as well as the clearing in the course of the wood industry, which established itself in East Texas as an essential branch of the economy. A side effect of this was the creation of numerous sandbanks . After the Second World War , the two large reservoirs were created on the lower reaches of the river. Construction of the BA Steinhagen Lake began in March 1947; the first damming took place in July 1953. The Sam Rayburn Reservoir - one of the largest reservoirs in Texas - was completed in 1965. Both water reservoirs are used both for the local water cycle and for energy generation purposes. The extensive integration of the river landscape into the local economy led, among other things, to ecologically disadvantageous side effects - consequences that in some cases were only addressed in a more targeted manner at the beginning of the 21st century .

Others

The Angelina River is mentioned by name in two country songs. The first is The Rivers of Texas - a traditional piece taken up by singer Irene Carlisle in 1942, which she said was written by a passing worker in the early 1920s and which became more popular in 1984 in the version by Mason Williams . The second song that mentions the river by name is Rivertown by Hayes Carll - a singer-songwriter- style piece that Carll released on his 2005 album Little Rock .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Angelina River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Angelina River . Carolyn Hyman, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), June 9, 2010
3. ↑ ^{a b} An Analysis of Texas Waterways , website of the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency, accessed September 29, 2018 (Engl.)
4. ↑ Nacogdoches, Battle of . Archie P. McDonald, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), June 15, 2010
5. ↑ History of Town Bluff Dam and BA Steinhagen Lake , US Army Corps of Engineers, accessed September 29, 2018 (Engl.)
6. ↑ See text at genius.com (Rivertown) and information about the piece at riseupandsing.com (The Rivers of Texas); accessed on September 29, 2018