| Concho River Río Concho | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Concho River inSan Angelo, Texas | |
 Map of the Concho River and associated watershed | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| Counties | Concho andTom Green |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | |
• coordinates | 31°34′17″N99°43′29″W / 31.57139°N 99.72472°W /31.57139; -99.72472[1] |
• elevation | 1,480 ft (450 m)[1] |
TheConcho River is a river in theU.S. state ofTexas.[1]Concho isSpanish for "shell"; the river was so named due to its abundance of freshwatermussels,[2] such as the Tampico pearly mussel (Cyrtonaias tampicoensis).
The Concho River has three primary feeds: theNorth, Middle, andSouth Concho Rivers. The North Concho River is the longest fork, starting inHoward County and traveling southeast for 88 mi (142 km) until merging with the South and Middle forks nearGoodfellow Air Force Base inSan Angelo, Texas. The combined branches of the river flow east about 58 mi (93 km) until it eventually empties into theColorado River within the waters of theO.H. Ivie Lake about 12 mi (19 km) east ofPaint Rock, Texas.[3]
Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha,Governor of New Mexico, dispatched an expedition fromSanta Fe in 1650 led by Captain Diego del Castillo, to explore what is now north central Texas. The expedition reached the territory of theTejas Indians, and reported finding pearls on the Concho River.TheDiego de Guadalajara expedition was launched in 1654 to follow up on Castillo's findings.[4]The Spanish explored the river for the gem-quality purple to pinkpearls produced by that species.[5] The mussels were systematically harvested for only a short time because they soon realized that the yield of pearls was too low for their harvest to be economically viable.[2]
| International | |
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| National | |
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