Colorado River
- Thread starter DeanR
- Start date
W0QNX
Blacksheep Tribal Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
- Messages
- 3,346
- Location
- Pensacola, FL. USA
- Bike
- 06/ST1300 19/R1250RT
- 2024 Miles
- 007437
Coop thanks for teaching me about the name history of the Colorado river. I didn't know it used to be the Grand River in CO. Just being curious I learned the state of Colorado was named Colorado because it's Grand river was (is) the main (flow) contributor to the famous Utah Colorado river which used to (is) the confluence of the Green and Grand rivers in Utah. I'll insert a quote rather than slow type:
"Prior to 1921, the Green River of Utah and the Grand River from Colorado converged outside of Moab, Utah to create the Colorado River.
Colorado is a Spanish name that means “red-colored;” an accurate description of the silt-laden, untamed river that was often described as “too thick to drink, too thin to plow.”
When the Colorado Territory was named in 1861, the names Jefferson, Arcadia and even Idaho, were among those considered for the new territory, but Sen. Henry Wilson of Massachusetts felt Colorado would be more appropriate since “the Colorado River rose in its mountains.”
"
Unquote, and knowing those facts leads me to some explanation of where all the "Grand" names in Colorado came from:
"The presence of the Grand River, now the Colorado, spawned a host of other place names involving the word “Grand.”
From the Colorado River’s headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park in eastern Grand County, the river flows west to feed Grand Lake, then proceeds farther west to the Canyon of the Grand River, now known as Glenwood Canyon.
After passing Glenwood Springs, the river continues west to a town that was formerly called Grand Valley, now Parachute, flowing farther west into the Grand Valley in Mesa County where it joined forces with the Gunnison River at a place appropriately named Grand Junction.
The name “Grand River” was an abomination to Edward T. Taylor, a legislator living in Glenwood Springs.
As a representative to Colorado’s General Assembly and then as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Taylor kept pursuing his goal of renaming the Grand as a point of civic pride.
To Taylor, it was unjust that the Colorado River began 80 miles west of the Colorado border and that the name “Grand’ be applied to the river because it would be, ” …a meaningless misnomer. Practically everything in Colorado is grand!”"
Link:
www.summitdaily.com
"Prior to 1921, the Green River of Utah and the Grand River from Colorado converged outside of Moab, Utah to create the Colorado River.
Colorado is a Spanish name that means “red-colored;” an accurate description of the silt-laden, untamed river that was often described as “too thick to drink, too thin to plow.”
When the Colorado Territory was named in 1861, the names Jefferson, Arcadia and even Idaho, were among those considered for the new territory, but Sen. Henry Wilson of Massachusetts felt Colorado would be more appropriate since “the Colorado River rose in its mountains.”
"
Unquote, and knowing those facts leads me to some explanation of where all the "Grand" names in Colorado came from:
"The presence of the Grand River, now the Colorado, spawned a host of other place names involving the word “Grand.”
From the Colorado River’s headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park in eastern Grand County, the river flows west to feed Grand Lake, then proceeds farther west to the Canyon of the Grand River, now known as Glenwood Canyon.
After passing Glenwood Springs, the river continues west to a town that was formerly called Grand Valley, now Parachute, flowing farther west into the Grand Valley in Mesa County where it joined forces with the Gunnison River at a place appropriately named Grand Junction.
The name “Grand River” was an abomination to Edward T. Taylor, a legislator living in Glenwood Springs.
As a representative to Colorado’s General Assembly and then as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Taylor kept pursuing his goal of renaming the Grand as a point of civic pride.
To Taylor, it was unjust that the Colorado River began 80 miles west of the Colorado border and that the name “Grand’ be applied to the river because it would be, ” …a meaningless misnomer. Practically everything in Colorado is grand!”"
Link:
Many years ago, the Colorado River was just Grand
EDITOR'S NOTE: Today we begin a series of columns that talk about the complexity of water in the West. The columns are produced by the Colorado River Water Conservation
www.summitdaily.com
TPadden
Tom Padden
Coop thanks for turning on the spigot to Raymond's immense collection of meaningless things he didn't know. He also didn't know:
Raymondskill Falls is a series of three cascading waterfalls located on Raymondskill Creek, Pennsylvania, United States near several other waterfalls in the area including Dingmans Falls, Bushkill Falls, and Shohola Falls ...
Tom
Last edited:
Have you taken him to the museum were the airplane the Navy guys didn't crash is located? Note to self...gotta go see it someday.Coop thanks for turning on the spigot to Raymond's immense collection of meaningless things he didn't know. He also didn't know:
Raymondskill Falls is a series of three cascading waterfalls located on Raymondskill Creek, Pennsylvania, United States near several other waterfalls in the area including Dingmans Falls, Bushkill Falls, and Shohola Falls ...
Tom
We need to listen to Raymond's stories before he achieves senior citizen status and can't remember were he parked his bike. I mention this because he will someday be a 10 hour guy like me. It took that long before I could remember RocketCowboy's name. LOL!
TexasRain
It's more than a ride...
That's a pretty neat bridge. I went there a few weeks ago and was able to visit with one of the landowners. Lots of history there. I recommend it, except the approach off RM300 [137] is gravel/rock. I was in my SUV.