Freeday Friday: The Colorado River Foundation

  Today I had my training to become an Environmental Educator Docent for the Colorado River Foundation.  It was very educational full of fun facts and interesting history.  Did you know that the name 'Colorado' means red?  You Austinites might find this a bit confusing, because the Colorado River is not red at all.  In fact, the entire area is covered in limestone, which is white; not even close to what you would expect for a 'red' river.  So how did the Colorado end up with that name?  Well, when Cabeza de Vaca (you remember him from junior high history, right?) mapped the rivers of Texas, he named one of the rivers "Brazos" because the rivers that flowed into the main river looked like arms (brazos means arms).  And he named another river "Colorado" because the red clay found on the bottom of the riverbed turned the river red.  Well, silly Cabeza de Vaca returned to Spain and flipped the two rivers, so now the Colorado River will be mistakenly called 'red' for all eternity.  Anyway, here's a short little video about the Colorado River Foundation: