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Article: Flowing vision, linked waterways: River navigation system a dream that held water: The McClellan- Kerr project was key to the region's economic development.
- Article from:
- Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK)
- Article date:
- July 15, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Tulsa World. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: David Harper
Jul. 15--Will Rogers said in the 1920s that it would be easier to pave the Arkansas River than to make it navigable.
Luckily for the area's economy, others had a vision that paid off in the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
In the state's early days, the Arkansas was navigable to the mouth of the Verdigris River, but only when a significant amount of water was in it. That happened only during the first six months of the year, and even then navigation was difficult, according to W. David Baird and the late Danney Goble's 1994 book, "The Story of Oklahoma."
What river navigation there was in the ...