Cimarron River (Canadian River tributary)
The Cimarron River, flowing entirely in New Mexico, was also known as La Flecha or Semarone. Its headwaters are Moreno, Sixmile, and Cieneguilla creeks in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which feed into Eagle Nest Dam. From the dam, it runs for to below the city of Springer, New Mexico, in the Taylor Springs area, where it flows into the Canadian River, the southwesternmost major tributary flowing into the Mississippi River via the Arkansas River sub-basin. This river flows within a mountainous canyon that is part of Cimarron Canyon State Park in the lower Sangre de Cristo Mountains and runs down into eastern plains of New Mexico. This headwaters region is also home to the Philmont Scout Ranch. Etymology Cimarron was first applied to either the river or mountains in northeastern New Mexico and applied to other places in the state. The most common belief is that it was named for the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, called carnero cimarrnó in New Mexican Spanish. In addition, cimarrónes was the name for cattle and wild horses. Another of several theories is that is named for the plant rosa cimarróna, a wild rose plant that grows along the river. However, in 1719, it