Caddo Lake, viewed from a point near Uncertain

Caddo Lake is a 25,400 acre (103 km²) lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. The lake is named after the Southeastern culture of Native Americans called Caddo or Caddoans, who lived in the area from the 16th century until their expulsion in the 19th century. It is an Internationally protected wet land under the RAMSAR treaty and is the largest natural fresh water lake in Texas, and the largest Cypress forest in the world. Download high resolution version (1000x750, 612 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1000x750, 612 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Uncertain is a town located in Harrison County, Texas. ... ... State nickname: Pelican State Other U.S. States Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Senators Mary Landrieu (D) David Vitter (R) Official language(s) None; English and French de facto Area 134,382 km² (31st)  - Land 112,927 km²  - Water 21,455 km² (16%) Population... Harrison County is a county located in the state of Texas. ... Marion County is a county located in the state of Texas. ... Caddo Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Assiniboin Boy, an Atsina Native Americans in the United States (also Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are those indigenous peoples within the territory which is now encompassed by the continental United States, and their descendants in modern times. ... The Caddo are a nation, or group of tribes, of Southeastern Native Americans who, in the 16th century, inhabited much of what is now East Texas, Western Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i. ...

Formation

According to Caddo legend, the lake was formed by the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake. There may be some truth to the legend, as Reelfoot Lake in tTennessee was formed by that earthquake, but most geologists now feel that Caddo Lake was formed gradually rather than catastrophically. The lake was formed, either gradually or catastrophically, by the "Great Raft" a 100 mile (160 km) log jam on the Red River in Louisiana. The Caddo are a nation, or group of tribes, of Southeastern Native Americans who, in the 16th century, inhabited much of what is now East Texas, Western Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The New Madrid Earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded in the continental United States, occurred on February 7, 1812. ... Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake located in the extreme northwest portion of Tennessee, United States of America, just south of the Kentucky line. ... State nickname: Volunteer State Other U.S. States Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Governor Phil Bredesen (D) Senators Bill Frist (R) Lamar Alexander (R) Official language(s) English Area 109,247 km² (36th)  - Land 106,846 km²  - Water 2,400 km² (2. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earths surface. ... The Great Raft was a gigantic logjam or series of rafts that clogged the Red River and was unique in North America. ... The term Red River has the following uses: Rivers Red River of the North, a river that flows northward between North Dakota and Minnesota into Lake Winnipeg, site of the Red River Settlement; also center of the Red River Valley, a historic region of the United States and Canada Red...

History

Caddo was first seen by Europeans in the 16th century, but substantial development would only begin with invention of the steamboat and US annexation of both Louisiana and Texas in the 19th century. The cities of Port Caddo, Swanson's Landing and Jefferson in Texas had thriving riverboat ports on the lake. Gradually as the log jams where removed in the lake and the Red River by Captain Henry Miller Shreve and then by the Army Corps of Engineers, the lake changed shape and eventually fell over ten feet destroying the East Texas ports and their riverboat industry. This article is about the continent. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jefferson is a city located in Marion County, Texas. ... A paddle steamer, paddleboat, or paddlewheeler is a ship driven by one or more paddle wheels driven by a steam engine. ... Henry Miller Shreve (October 21, 1785 - 1854) was an American inventor and steamboat captain and the man who opened up the Mississippi, Ohio and Red Rivers to steamboat navigation. ... United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 military men and women. ... Red counties show the core of East Texas, counties shown as pink may or may not be included in East Texas, and thus their inclusion varies from source to source. ...

Industry once again came to Caddo Lake with the discovery of oil beneath it. The world's first over water oil well was completed in Caddo Lake in 1911. The Ferry Lake No. 1 was erected by Gulf Refining Company. The well bottomed at 2,185 feet and produced 450 barrels per day. Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Natural gas drilling rig A drilling rig or oil rig is a structure housing equipment used to drill for and extract oil or natural gas from underground reservoirs. ... 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

Oil derricks sprang up throughout the lake, around the turn of the 20th century, further damaging the fragile ecosystem. The oil industry left Caddo for richer fields at Kilgore and other locations in Texas. Texas tried to preserve parts of Caddo in 1934 by establishing a State Park, constructed by the WPA. The establishment of the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant on the shores of Caddo, in the mid 20th century, polluted large portions of the surrounding wetlands until its closure in the 1990s. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a loose unit. ... Kilgore is a city located in Texas, and is situated in East Texas. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... State park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. ... The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 with the signing of Executive Order 7034. ... Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... // Events and trends The 1990s in its most obvious sense refers to the years 1990 to 1999, but has held a strong influence into the 2000s. ...

Preservation efforts

In 1993 Caddo Lake preservation entered a renaissance, with the announcement that 7,000 acres (28 km²) of Caddo purchased by the Nature Conservancy were to be merged with the 483 acre (2 km²) Texas Caddo Lake State Park to be become the Caddo Lake State Park and Wildlife Management Area. In October 1993 Caddo Lake became one of thirteen areas in the United States protected by the Ramsar Treaty. As of 2003 Caddo Lake flora and fauna consisted of: 189 species of trees and shrubs, 75 grasses, 42 woody vines, 216 kinds of birds, 90 fish and reptiles, and 47 mammals. One of these species, Crataegus opaca or mayhaw fruit is collected from the water to make a jelly that is considered one of the finest in the world. Forty four of Caddo's native species were either endangered, threatened or rare. From 2001 until 2003 Caddo Lake residents fought a legal battle with the City of Marshall, Texas over water rights. 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... This article is about the unit of measure known as the acre. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Botany a Flora (or Floræ) is a collective term for plant life and can also refer to a descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. ... Fauna is a collective term for animal life. ... In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... The word bush re-directs here; for alternate uses see Bush (disambiguation). ... Genera See: List of Poaceae genera The true grasses are monocot (class Liliopsida) plants of the family Poaceae (formerly Graminae). ... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling... Orders  Crocodilia - Crocodilians scary crocodiles. ... Orders Subclass Monotremata Monotremata Subclass Marsupialia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Subclass Placentalia Xenarthra Dermoptera Desmostylia Scandentia Primates Rodentia Lagomorpha Insectivora Chiroptera Pholidota Carnivora Perissodactyla Artiodactyla Cetacea Afrosoricida Macroscelidea Tubulidentata Hyracoidea Proboscidea Sirenia The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals primarily characterized by the presence of mammary... Species Crataegus aestivalis Crataegus opaca Crataegus rufula et al A Mayhaw is the name given to the fruit of three species of hawthorn tree that are common in wetlands throughout the U.S. South. ... The American bison numbered as few as 750 in 1890 due to extreme overhunting. ... Threatened species refers to animal and plant species under a serious, but perhaps not imminent, threat of extinction. ... The American bison numbered as few as 750 in 1890 due to extreme overhunting. ... The Old Harrison County Courthouse in Whetstone Square is the centerpiece of the Wonderland of Lights, one of the largest light festivals in the United States, and is lit with thousands of lights during the celebration. ...

Voices advocating preservation of Lake Caddo included rocker Don Henley, former frontman for The Eagles.

Cities on Caddo Lake

• Jefferson, Texas
• Karnack, Texas
• Mooringsport, Louisiana
• Oil City, Louisiana
• Uncertain, Texas