Deep Fork River

Deep Fork River (Deep Fork of the North Canadian) is an Oklahoma tributary of the North Canadian River. The headwaters flow from north Oklahoma City and the river empties into the North Canadian at Lake Eufaula about 200 miles (320 km) away.

The river begins in Oklahoma County, flows through Lincoln County, winds back and forth across the Creek–Okfuskee county lines, crosses Okmulgee County, and into Eufaula Lake near the Okmulgee–McIntosh county line. Communities along the waterway are Arcadia, Luther, Wellston, Warwick, Sparks, and Welty. It is impounded by Arcadia Reservoir and by Eufaula Lake. Near Okmulgee, the river flows through the 9,000-acre (36 km²) Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge.

During its Indian Territory days, Deep Fork divided the Iowa and Kickapoo reserves of present day Lincoln County. Also, the Deep Fork District of the Creek (Muscogee) Nation lay on the east side of the Creek reserve between Deep Fork and the Canadian River. The area of the old district is mostly within by today's Okfuskee County. In the 1880s, the Deep Fork bottom west of Christian Wells trading post (present-day Wellston) became a center of Boomer activity. Soldiers from Fort Reno constantly patrolled the area after Wells hired several of David Payne's lieutenants to work at his store. The troopers rounded up Boomers on a number of occasions and returned them to Kansas.

Sources

• Kappler, Charles (Ed.). PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS RELATING TO INDIAN RESERVES, (Indian Territory 840-844). Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 1:840-844 (accessed August 28, 2006).
• United States Geological Survey. Source of Deep Fork River (accessed August 28, 2006).
• United States Geological Survey. Mouth of Deep Fork River (accessed August 28, 2006).

External links

• Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge