The "Oxbows" of the Caloosahatchee EarthCache
The "Oxbows" of the Caloosahatchee
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An Earth Cache about "Oxbows" in the Caloosahatchee River..
Before man decided to alter the course and the origin of the Caloosahatchee River, it was a meandering, beautiful tributary of the Gulf of Mexico, issuing from Lake Flirt, about 15 miles West of present-day Lake Okeechobee. The river was twice as long as its current length of 67 miles, due to approximately 500 "Bends" along its route. As it meandered through the low-lying land of South West Florida, it constantly changed course. Due to erosion and removal of soil on the outer, concave banks and the deposition of soil on the inner, convex banks, the bends in the river shifted. Eventually two convex banks would touch and the river broke through, bypassing the old course. This left the old "Bend" stranded as an "Oxbow." Sometimes the "Oxbows" remained attached at one or both ends, but most often they became separate "U-shaped" lakes.
In 1881 Hamilton Diston of Philadelphia bought one million acres of land in the Caloosahatchee Basin and proceeded to drain the area around Lake Okeechobee. He dredged a channel in the river and connected Lake Flirt with Lakes Lettuce, Bonnet and Hicpochee. A canal then connected Lake Hicpochee with Lake Okeechobee. The final step in his plan was to dynamite a natural waterfall (rare in South Florida!) between Lake Flirt and the Caloosahatchee River.
The second phase of the end of the meandering river came in the 1930's when President Hoover had a dike built around Lake Okeechobee, with a lock at Moorehaven. The Caloosahatchee was "Channelized" into a straight deep canal. The river became the "C-43 Canal" in the "Cross-State Ship Channel, or the "Okeechobee Waterway." Later on, by the mid 50's, the canal was widened to 250 feet and had a depth of 8 feet. It now had three dams and locks to control the water flow and allow shipping to cross the state. The total project is now the world's single most sophisticated plumbing system!
After the meandering river was effectively turned into a straight "Ditch", all its sweeping curves became "Oxbows." Some still connected to the river and some as curved lakes.
If you go to the coordinates for the Earth Cache, you will be in the parking lot for the South portion of the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam Complex. You will be on the South side of the river where there is a very nice beach and picnic area. They have an information center that provides much more information on the history of the Caloosahatchee River than this cache site allows. The kids will have fun in the center. There is also free launching for canoes and kayaks (Small fee for motorized vessels). This is an excellent place from which one can go upstream or downstream to see many beautiful "Oxbows" along the river. The campground, on the North bank of the river is built on an island formed by one of the "Oxbows." If you wish to camp there, any type of boat can be launched. They also allow "Boat Camping" in rented boat slips.
To claim a find for this Cache, please email me the answers to the following questions (Do NOT post them in your log!):
1 Explain how the river "Carved out" the "Oxbows."
2 What "Natural Feature" prevented navigation upstream, prior to the arrival of Hamilton Diston?
3 Are all "Oxbows" cut off from the current river channel?
4 Try to determine what is the water height difference between the Upstream side and the Downstream side of the locks? This would be the drop that the original river course made between Ortona (28 miles upstream) and the Gulf of Mexico.
5 Was the island across the river at the campground moving North or South, before the channelizing stopped the progress?
6 It is not required, but please post some photos of the "Oxbow"here and any others, if you go boating up or down the river.
Fortunately many of the old "Oxbows" have survived in this section of the Caloosahatchee River. Further upstream, as you approach Lake Okeechobee, there are few remaining and the river appears as a wide "Ditch."
Congratulations to mamashirl69 on the FTF! Enjoy your Smiley!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Rawbl gur ivrjf naq pnzc urer, vs cbffvoyr.