Republican

Geography

The Republican River is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Republican River and the Arikaree River just north of Haigler in Dundy County, Nebraska. It joins with the South Fork Republican River immediately southeast of Benkelman, Nebraska. All three tributaries originate in the High Plains of northeastern Colorado. From the confluence, the river flows generally eastward along the southern border of Nebraska, passing through Swanson Reservoir and Harlan County Reservoir before curving southward into the Smoky Hills region of Kansas. The Republican River joins the Smoky Hill River at Junction City, Kansas to form the Kansas River.

Some cities along the river are McCook, Nebraska, Clay Center, Kansas, Concordia, Kansas and Junction City, Kansas.

History

The river was named after a branch of Pawnee Indians known as "the Republicans".

As early as 1785, the Spanish and French had identified one of the villages of the Pawnee people as aldea de la Republica (little village of the Republic). A French traders' custom was to name rivers for the tribal villages located on their banks. In this way, the north fork of the Kansas River was named Fourche des Republiques or Fork of the Republics.

The Kitkehahkis Pawnee villages farmed corn, beans, and pumpkin in the fertile Republican valley floor but seasonally left to hunt buffalo in the plains to the west and south.

The Kitkehahkis, or Republican Pawnee, occasionally abandoned and relocated various villages along the Republican River.