Santa Clara River (Utah)
| Santa Clara River (Tonaquint River) | |
| river | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Utah |
| Region | Washington County |
| Part of | Right, Middle and Left Forks Santa Clara River |
| Cities | St. George, Santa Clara, Ivins, Pine Valley |
| Source | Confluence of the Right, Middle and Left Forks Santa Clara River |
| - location | Above Pine Valley, Utah |
| - elevation | 6,830 ft (2,082 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°22′32″N 113°27′50″W / 37.37556°N 113.46389°W |
| Mouth | Confluence with the Virgin River |
| - location | South of St. George, Utah |
| - elevation | 2,536 ft (773 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°04′23″N 113°34′55″W / 37.07306°N 113.58194°WCoordinates: 37°04′23″N 113°34′55″W / 37.07306°N 113.58194°W |
The Santa Clara River is a 52-mile-long (84 km)river whose three forks join above Pine Valley in the Pine Valley Mountains in Washington County, Utah, United States. It flows west, then south, then briefly southeast before joining the Virgin River just south of downtown St. George. It is southern Utah's largest tributary to the Virgin River.
The river was named the Santa Clara by the early travelers of the Old Spanish Trail that followed the river. It was also known as the Tonaquint River, for the Tonaquint Band of Indians who lived near the river's mouth.
Archaeological evidence shows that Ancestral Puebloans (also known as the Virgin Anasazi) lived in the area from 700 B.C. to A.D. 1200 and that they had developed irrigation for their farmed crops. Their population increased until about A.D. 1200, when all Anasazi populations collapsed. They were replaced by the Southern Paiute, who also farmed along the watercourse.
The first Europeans to see the river were Fathers Escalante and Dominguez on the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition. When they arrived on the upper Virgin River watershed on October 14, 1776, they encountered Southern Paiute farmers who greeted them with ears of corn. Because the land was verdant, Father Escalante called the area "Dixie." Their route here became part of the Armijo route of the Old Spanish Trail in 1829. When Armijo reached the mouth of the river as he descended the Virgin River he named the Santa Clara River "Rio de las Milpas" (river of the cornfields).Jedediah Smith who traveled up it in 1827 called it "Corn Creek."
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Wikipedia