Raft River

The Raft River is a 108-mile-long (174 km)[1] tributary of the Snake River located in northern Utah and southern Idaho in the United States. It is part of the Columbia River Basin.

For other places with the same name, see Raft River (British Columbia) and Raft River (Washington).
Raft River
Map of the Snake River watershed, USA
Location
CountryUnited States
StateIdaho / Utah
Physical characteristics
SourceAlbion Mountains
 • locationCassia County, Idaho and Box Elder County, Utah
MouthSnake River
 • location
Cassia County, Idaho
 • coordinates
42°36′20″N 113°14′26″W

Course

The Raft River's headwaters are mostly on the east side of the Albion Mountains, southeast of Oakley, Idaho. But its Clear Creek tributary also drains the north side of the Raft River Mountains in Utah, and runoff from the nearby Grouse Creek Range also flows into the Raft River.[2] Portions of the Black Pine and Sublett mountains are also in the river's watershed. The river flows generally north to join the Snake River in Cassia County, Idaho.

Watershed

The Raft River's drainage basin includes four divisions of Sawtooth National Forest, and is approximately 1,506 square miles (3,901 km2) in area, of which approximately 95% of the overall area is in Idaho.[2]

History

The river is named for the fact Oregon Trail pioneers would cross the river with rafts, which was often flooded as a result of beaver dams.[3]

The Oregon Trail crossed the Raft River approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of Interstate 86. At the top of the bluff above Raft River the "Parting of the Ways" took place. The Oregon Trail continued west and the California Trail headed south. Graves of those who died from being mortally wounded at Massacre Rocks can be found in the same area along the river. The Clark Massacre of 1851 took place near the Raft River itself.

The Raft River also was a turning point for the Emigrants. They would see the Raft as a separating place.

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 4, 2011
  2. Upper Snake, Headwaters, Closed Basin Subbasins Plan Plan, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
  3. Rees, John E. (1918). Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography. W.B. Conkey Company. p. 104.

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Raft River



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