North Canadian River

• Name — North Canadian River • Subdivision Type1 — Country • Subdivision Name1 — United States • Subdivision Type2 — States • Subdivision Name2 — Oklahoma • Length — 800 mi • Discharge1 Location — Wetumka • Discharge1 Avg — 834 cuft/s • Source1 — Confluence of Beaver River and Wolf Creek • Source1 Location — Woodward County • Source1 Elevation — 1952 ft • Mouth — Eufaula Lake, Canadian River • Mouth Location — McIntosh County • Mouth Elevation — 581 ft • Basin Size — 17955 sqmi

The North Canadian River is formed by the confluence of the Beaver River and Wolf Creek, northeast of the town of Fort Supply in Woodward County, Oklahoma. It flows generally eastward and southeastward, through Woodward, Major, Dewey, Blaine, Canadian, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Pottawatomie, Seminole, Hughes, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, and McIntosh counties, through the cities and towns of Woodward, Oklahoma City, and Shawnee. It is dammed near Canton to form Canton Lake in Blaine County, and in Oklahoma City to form Lake Overholser. It flows into the Canadian River in McIntosh County as part of Lake Eufaula, which is formed by a dam on the Canadian River.

A 7 mi portion of the river flowing through Oklahoma City was renamed the Oklahoma River in 2004. This portion has several locks that have created a series of small lakes in which rowing, kayaking, and canoeing regattas take place (hosted by the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, Chesapeake Boat House, and Oklahoma City University). Regatta activities include: 2.5 mile head races, 2000 meter sprints, and 500 meter sprints. It is the only location in the US conducting officially sanctioned night sprints under lights. The Oklahoma River was profiled in The New York Times on April 22, 2008.

The name "North Canadian River" has sometimes been applied to the Beaver River and one of the Beaver River's headwaters tributaries, Corrumpa Creek, extending the North Canadian River's length into New Mexico and Texas. The U.S. federal government used that definition from 1914 to 1970: A 1914 decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) defined the North Canadian River as including both the Beaver River and Corrumpa Creek as part of its course. A 1970 USBGN decision revised the 1914 definition, defining the North Canadian River as beginning at the confluence of the Beaver River and Wolf Creek. In the language of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation it is called the "Oktahutchee." This is reflected by the poem "Song of the Oktahutche" by Muscogee writer Alexander Posey, which later gave its name to the first complete collection of his work. Posey himself died trying to cross the flooded river in 1908. The USBGN's Geographic Names Information System also lists "Beaver Creek," "Beaver River," "Branche Nord de la Riviere Canadienne," "Honih'hiyo'he," "North Fork Canadian River," and "North Fork of Canadian River" as historical variant names for the river.