Red River Expedition of 1852
Pampa, Gray County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Randolph B. Marcy, U.S. Fifth Infantry Captain, and George B. McClellan led a company into the Texas panhandle in 1852 to determine the locations of the headwaters of the Red River. That summer the team discovered two main branches of the Upper Red River that intersect the 100th Meridan. The North Branch is southeast of Pampa. Earlier treaties used the Red River as a boundary, but it was unclear which fork was meant when first defined. In 1896, the South Branch was determined to be the main stream and the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma. (1984, 1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the summer of 1852, U.S. Army Captain Randolph B. Marcy and Lieutenant George B. McClellan led an expedition into the still little-mapped Texas Panhandle to trace the elusive headwaters of the Red River. Their survey identified two forks reaching the 100th Meridian, a distinction that mattered enormously because earlier treaties had used the river as a boundary without specifying which channel was meant. Decades later, in 1896, the courts settled on the South Branch as the true main stream, fixing the line between Texas and Oklahoma.
Why it matters
The expedition shows how frontier-era scientific reconnaissance quietly shaped the political map, turning an ambiguous river into a hard state boundary that still stands.
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Related people
- · Randolph B. Marcy
- · George B. McClellan
Related events
- · Red River Expedition of 1852
Themes & tags
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