The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast, and traverses the states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
At 1,469 miles (2,364 km) it is the sixth longest river in the United States, the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi-Missouri system, and the 45th longest river in the world . Its origin is in the Colorado Rockies in Lake County near Leadville, and its outlet is at the historic site of Napoleon, Arkansas. The Arkansas River drainage basin covers nearly 195,000 sq mi.
The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System begins at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa on the Verdigris River, and runs via an extensive Lock and Dam system to the Mississippi.
Through Oklahoma and Arkansas, dams artificially deepen and widen this modest sized river to build it into a commercially navigable body of water.
"There was a contagiously good spirit among the thousands of visitors at the dedication ceremony. It was like an old-fashioned family outing on the Fourth of July, wholesome and patriotic. People were proud of the occasion, proud of the port and the accomplishment it represents--and they were proud to greet the President....Everyone at the dedication was not necessarily a Nixon fan. There were Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, doves and hawks...people of all kinds. But it was a good-time occasion unmarked by ugly differences in politics or philosophy." --The Tulsa World
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