The New International Encyclopædia/Canadian River

CANADIAN RIVER. A river formed by the union of several branches flowing east from the Taos and Culebra range of the Rocky Mountains, at the border between New Mexico and Colorado, in longitude 105° 20′ W., and about 100 miles northeast of Santa Fé (Map: United States, Western Part, F 3). It flows nearly due south to latitude 35° 20′ N., then east across the panhandle of Texas and into Oklahoma, where at Taloga it turns southeast, forming from about longitude 97° 55′ to longitude 96° 45′ the boundary between Oklahoma and Indian Territory. It then flows through the Indian Territory toward the northeast and joins the Arkansas River, of which it is the chief tributary, at Tamaha. It is nearly 900 miles long, but, owing to closely paralleling other rivers in the lower part of its course, it drains a relatively small territory. The volume of water varies greatly in the wet and dry seasons.