Kings River (California)
The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About 125 miles (201 km) long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries. Southern distributaries enter the endorheic basin surrounding Tulare Lake while northern distributaries join the San Joaquin River, eventually reaching San Francisco Bay via the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta. Tulare Lake was formerly the largest freshwater lake in western North America, but heavy agricultural and urban diversions have left it dry. The Kings River was named by the commander of a Spanish military expedition into the Central Valley in 1805.
Read more about Kings River (California): Course, History, Ecology, River Modifications
Famous quotes containing the words kings and/or river:
“Our most bitter enemies are our own kith and kin.... Kings have no brothers, no sons, no mother!”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Naught was familiar but the heavens, from under whose roof the voyageur never passes; but with their countenance, and the acquaintance we had with river and wood, we trusted to fare well under any circumstances.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)