The Arkansas starts in Colorado as a trickle from half a dozen springs almost on top of the Continental Divide near Leadville and Climax, close to Fremont Pass. The river begins at 11,320 feet altitude--more than two miles higher than the point almost 2,000 miles away where it empties into the Mississippi River.

The Arkansas is born amidst the grandeur of the rugged Sawatch Mountains and the Misquito Range, so high that the bald, jagged peaks rise treeless above timberline, etched with pink and gray rock in the columbine blue skies. The awesome picture changes when the clouds sail in alternately from the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the nation's backbone and wrap the mountainous sentinels in nature's royal robes of ermine. These snow blankets are the wealth of the great Arkansas Valley of Colorado and even Kansas, because without these snowbanks there would be litttle habitation in the valley.

Some of America's highest mountains reach into the heavens to anchor the clouds as they discharge their snows and rains where they can feed the springs that bubble into what becomes the Arkansas River. Colorado has 52 of the nation's 67 mountains rising above 14,000 feet. A good portion of them are on the headwaters of the Arkansas. Mt. Elbert, 14,431 and Mt. Massive, 14,418 feet, the nation's second and third highest peaks, exclusive of Alaska, are the source of the Arkansas. Near Buena Vista are the famous Collegiate trio, Mounts Harvard, Princeton and Yale, and their sister mountain, Shavano and its Snow Angel. More than a score of other 14,000-foot peaks in the Arkansas basin, including the grand old sentinel of the front range, Pikes Peak.
The river has no important tributaries that empty into it until it reaches the city of Pueble. The lone river has done one of the greatest jobs of all time in carving from solid granite one of the wonders of the world--the Royal Gorge, the Grand Canon of the Arkansas River. The river etched its path through the red canon, leaving pendicular walls a quarter-mile high. The rocky crevice through the Rockies is so narrow that the Denver & River Grande Railroad in one place had to swing its track above the stream by an engineering marvel, the Hanging Bridge.
The Royal Gorge is not a big as the Colorado River's Grand Canon, because the Colorado has the benefit of many contributory rivers while the Arkansas works away alone. How long did it take? Thousands of years.
The Arkansas was Spanish until 1800 when the Louisiana Territory was receded to France. The United States purchased the territory from France a few years later. The Arkansas has belonged to the Indians, French, Spanish, Mexicans, Kanans, Louisianans, Missourians and Texas. It served as an international border and therefore belonged to two nations simultaneously. Even for the nine years that Texas was not part of the Union, the Arkansas separated Texas from the United States.

The French and Spanish explorers called the river Rio Napesta or Rio Nepestle, believed to have been derived from the Osage Ne Shusta, or Red Water. Today a rural community in eastern Pueble County still carries the name of Nepesta.

The name of the Arkansas was taken from the Arkansas Indians who roamed the Oklahoma and Arkansas regions of the stream when the French were exploring the West. The Father Maruette in 1673 had difficulty with the Indian name and came up with Arkansea. La Salle a few years later made it Acansa. One of the LaSalle's Jesuits, callaed it Akansa. In 1718 the river was named the Arkansas,by Dieur Bernard La harpe, a map maker.
It is spelled Arkansas, but the river is probably the only one in the world which actually has two pronunciations. In Colorado and Kansas it is known as Ar-Kansas but in Oklahoma and Arkansas is is pronounced as Arkansaw. The legislature of Arkansas in 1881 passed a law establishing Arkansaw pronunciation.
The unsual mineral content of the soil, mountain water and abundant sunshine have made the Arkansas Valley crops famous across the nation, especially onions, cantaloupes, watermellons and vegetables. Sugar beets, alfalfa, corn and grains also have made the Valley a cattle and sheep feeding region.

The Arkansas Vallaey has grown from a handful of traders and Indians to a paradise where men and women have learned to live abundantly. The arid climate and sunshine promote outdoor living. The upper basin is a haven for trout fishermen and wild game hunters. There is summer and winter recreation, including some of the country's best skiing. there are many resorts and dude ranches.

In 1948 the Army Corps of Engineers completed the John Martin Reservoir 18 miles west of Lamar, Colorado (Not in Otero County) to control the river and to have the companion role of storing water for irrigation.

The Arkansas River Basin irrigation lakes and reservoirs, their locations and capacities in Otero County are:
Dye..............................7,986
Holbrook 1...................7,472
Horse Creek ................27,050
Prairie Land & Irr. 1.....5,360
Swink...........................6,3230
Timpas Creek 2...........3,000

The above story of the Arkansas River was from the very informative and well written book, COLORADO SOUTH OF THE BORDER, by Ralph C. Taylor. It was published 1963 by Sage Books. Sage Books are published by Alan Swallow, 2679 South York Street, Denver 10, Colorado. I have no idea if this book is still in print. I bought a copy of the book at a used book store in California 1999 and it happens to be autographed. I highly recommend anyone interested in reading about the Southern protion Colorado history to try and get a copy of this book. It sold for $6.00 new and I bought it used for $8.00 and it is not in mint condition.