60 Fun Facts About The Rio Grande

What is the Rio Grande called in Mexico?

'Bravo' means furious, agitated or wild; the Navajo call it Tó Ba'áadi.

How long is the Rio Grande?

It flows primarily through arid and semi-arid lands and is a vital water source for seven US and Mexican states.

Where does the Rio Grande rank among the longest rivers in the United States?

Its drainage basin covers 182,200 square miles, or 336,000 counting the adjacent closed basins.

In which US state does the Rio Grande rise?

It forms from several streams at the base of Canby Mountain in the San Juan Mountains, just east of the Continental Divide.

Into which body of water does the Rio Grande empty?

It ends in a small sandy delta; since the mid-20th century only a fraction of its water gets that far.

What share of the Rio Grande's water reached the sea in the 2020s after diversions?

Irrigation in the Mesilla and Lower Rio Grande Valleys and cities like Albuquerque take the rest, leaving only about 20 percent.

Which four Mexican states border the Rio Grande?

On the US side the river borders Texas, after running the full length of New Mexico.

Which pair of twin cities marks the point where the Rio Grande starts to form the US–Mexico border?

From there to the Gulf the border stretch measures between 889 and 1,248 miles depending on how you count the meanders.

Which Mexican tributary joins the Rio Grande near Ojinaga and restores its flow after it nearly dries near Presidio?

Below Presidio, where discharge is often zero, the Conchos essentially refills the river.

Which two US tributaries enter the Rio Grande from the north near Amistad Reservoir in Texas?

The Rio Salado and Rio San Juan join from the south, in Tamaulipas.

The Rio Grande Gorge, formed by a spillover from ancient Lake Alamosa, lies near which New Mexico town?

A steel arch bridge about 600 feet above the river, completed in 1965, crosses it 10 miles northwest of town.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge ranks where among the highest bridges in the United States?

It was named 'Most Beautiful Steel Bridge' in the long-span category in 1966; its exact height is disputed, at roughly 565 to 600 feet.

Through what geological feature does the river hop between sediment-filled basins in New Mexico?

The basins were once closed bolsons with playas; the river only linked them into a single system in recent geological time.

What is the elevation of the Rio Grande valley floor at Albuquerque?

By El Paso the river has dropped to 3,762 feet; it flows at high altitude for much of its length.

What did the Rio Grande's mouth do in mid-2001 for the first time in recorded history?

The 328-foot bar was dredged but reformed almost immediately, and returned again in 2002 after spring rains flushed it out.

Where along the river did over 200 steamboats operate during the 19th century?

Many were requisitioned from the Ohio and Mississippi during the Mexican–American War to move Zachary Taylor's army.

Which port at the Rio Grande's mouth was the Confederacy's only legitimate port in the Civil War?

European military supplies came in and bales of cotton went out through the Mexican side of the river mouth.

The Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge, dating from 1910, is what type of bridge?

Its swing mechanism has not been used since the last big steamboats vanished in the early 1900s.

Which Spanish expedition first reached the Tiwa pueblos along the Rio Grande in 1540?

The river had already appeared on a royal Spanish map of New Spain in 1536, and its mouth had been charted in 1519.

Who founded Santa Fe de Nuevo Méjico in 1598 where the Rio Grande and Rio Chama meet?

He set up at San Juan de los Caballeros beside Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo on 12 July 1598.

Which river did Mexico claim as its border with the Republic of Texas, rather than the Rio Grande?

The dispute over the strip between the two rivers helped trigger the Mexican–American War.

Which 1848 agreement defined the US–Mexico border as the middle of the Rio Grande's deepest channel?

Because the channel wandered, the boundary wandered too, setting up the century-long Chamizal dispute at El Paso.

The Chamizal dispute concerned land shifted by the river between El Paso and which Mexican city?

Estimates of the disputed tract range from 600 to 1,600 acres.

What was Cordova Island, created when a channel was cut across a bend of the Rio Grande in 1899?

It became the centre of the Chamizal dispute.

In which year was the Chamizal Treaty, which finally settled the El Paso boundary dispute, ratified?

President Kennedy had reopened the question; the zone was formally ceded to Mexico on 28 October 1967.

Which two presidents planned the first US–Mexico presidential summit, at El Paso and its twin city, in 1909?

It was also the first time a US president would cross the border into Mexico.

The 1938 pact dividing the river's US water among three states is called the Rio Grande what?

Gauging stations at the state lines check that the upstream states deliver their shares.

Which binational body, born of an 1889 border committee, allocates the Rio Grande's waters?

The key treaties it administers were signed in 1906 and 1944.

Elephant Butte Dam on the Rio Grande stands near which oddly named New Mexico town?

The butte itself is a volcanic plug said to look like an elephant lying on its side.

Elephant Butte gets its name from what?

The volcano's sides eroded away, leaving only the solidified core.

How full was Elephant Butte Reservoir reported to be in October 2022?

The river ran dry for about 50 miles that July, including five miles in Albuquerque, for the first time in over 40 years.

Which two heads of state dedicated Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande in October 1953?

The earthen dam between Starr County, Texas, and Tamaulipas was authorised by the 1944 water treaty.

Roughly how many miles of the US–Mexico boundary does Big Bend National Park administer?

The park is named after a great curve of the river and is entirely within Brewster County.

Which three canyons of the Rio Grande lie within Big Bend National Park?

The river has cut nearly vertical limestone walls through three uplifts.

Which mountain range is the only one in the US fully contained within a national park, at Big Bend?

Emory Peak rises to 7,832 feet, against about 1,800 feet down at the river.

Roughly how many acres does Big Bend National Park cover?

Texas deeded the land to the federal government and the park opened to visitors on 1 July 1944.

Which desert does the Rio Grande wind through at Big Bend?

The park's Chisos Mountains are 'sky islands' rising out of it.

How many miles of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Texas are designated a Wild and Scenic River?

There are two stretches, one in northern New Mexico and one at Big Bend.

What does the Tewa name for the river, P'oesóˀon, mean?

The Keresan and Tiwa names both mean 'Big River', and the Towa name 'Great Waters'; all likely predate the Spanish.

Which endangered fish is protected by restricting Albuquerque's river diversions in low flows?

Cottonwood trees and the southwestern willow flycatcher are also suffering from the shortages.

Which scheme carries water under the Continental Divide from the Navajo and Blanco rivers into the Rio Grande system?

It feeds Heron Reservoir and the Rio Chama, and supplies Albuquerque's drinking water treatment plant.

What nickname is given to the often-dry stretch of the Rio Grande from Las Cruces to Ojinaga?

Drought and overuse leave little or no water by the time the river reaches Presidio.

What was the ancestral Rio Grande's fate before it reached the sea, according to geologists?

It only joined the Pecos, and thereby the sea, about 800,000 years ago.

Which Texas town pairs with Piedras Negras, Coahuila, across the river?

Del Rio pairs with Ciudad Acuña; the major crossings are at Juárez, Ojinaga, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros.

In John Ford's 1950 Western Rio Grande, the last of his Cavalry Trilogy, John Wayne plays which officer?

Ford only made it because his studio would not let him start The Quiet Man otherwise; Maureen O'Hara co-starred.

What did the US and Mexico sign in 1944 concerning the Rio Grande?

Persistent 21st-century drought has prompted calls in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico to re-examine it.

What is the Rio Grande's average discharge at Brownsville and Matamoros, after irrigation diversions?

At Elephant Butte Dam it averages 945 cfs, and near Presidio it is frequently zero.

What did the Indian group recorded in the Big Bend before 1535 mainly do for a living?

They probably practised limited seasonal agriculture; the Comanches later used the Comanche Trail through the park for raids into Mexico.

In which mountain range does the Rio Grande rise, at the base of Canby Mountain?

From there it flows through Colorado's San Luis Valley before crossing into New Mexico.

Roughly how large is the Rio Grande's drainage basin?

Counting the closed endorheic basins adjacent to and within it, the total rises to about 336,000 square miles.

What is the greatest depth of the Rio Grande?

Despite that, the river generally cannot carry passenger boats or cargo barges; navigation is only possible near the mouth, rarely as far as Laredo.

Steamboats requisitioned to the Rio Grande in 1846 carried the army of which general toward Monterrey?

Army engineers later said small improvements could make the river navigable up to El Paso, but the recommendations were never acted on.

The 2015 West Rail crossing near Brownsville was the first new US-Mexico rail crossing in how long?

It moved all rail operations out of downtown Brownsville and Matamoros, about 15 miles east of the new bridge.

In the Civil War, the port of Bagdad at the river's mouth swapped European arms for what cargo?

European warships anchored offshore to maintain the port's neutrality, successfully fending off Union blockaders.

In what year did the Rio Grande first appear on a map of New Spain by a royal Spanish cartographer?

A Spanish naval expedition had charted its mouth along the northeastern coast of Mexico in 1519.

Why did crossing the Rio Grande southward serve as an escape route for some enslaved Texans?

Mexico had abolished slavery in 1828 and also had liberal colonization policies, adding to the appeal of the southern bank.

The 1905 Rio Grande Project accorded how much water annually to Mexico?

It was the first time Congress directed the allocation of an interstate river, seven years before New Mexico became a state.

Which president signed the 1962 legislation that launched the San Juan–Chama Project?

The project was completed in 1971, but Albuquerque only began using its water for municipal supply in 2008.

In July 2022 the Rio Grande ran dry for about 50 miles, including five miles through which city?

It was the first time in over 40 years, and the river dried there again the following summer after a failed monsoon season.

John Ford's 1950 film Rio Grande was shot in only 32 days in which location?

Ford only agreed to make it because Republic Pictures would not let him start The Quiet Man first; the working title was Rio Bravo.