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The Trinity River runs through parts of North Texas before continuing south toward the Trinity Bay on the Gulf Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Long before Dallas became a permanent settlement<\/a>, the Trinity River was winding its way through Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before being called the Trinity River, the body of water had other names that were given more than 300 years ago, including ones from the Caddo and a Spanish explorer. But how did the Texas river end up with the name it has today?<\/p>\n One reader asked Curious Texas<\/a>, \u201cWhy is the Trinity River named the Trinity River?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we found out.\u00a0<\/p>\n \nWhere is the Trinity River?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The Trinity River runs through parts of North Texas before continuing south toward the Trinity Bay on the Gulf Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, the river has three principal branches, including the East Fork, Elm Fork and West Fork, according to the Texas State Historical Association<\/a>. It also has a fourth headstream that is shorter and smaller, known as the Clear Fork.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is the longest river with its entire course in Texas, according to the association.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Why doesn’t Dallas use the Trinity River as a port? Curious Texas investigates<\/a><\/p>\n Why is the Trinity River named the Trinity River?<\/p>\n Spanish explorer Alonso de Le\u00f3n is credited as the person who named the Trinity River, according to Lola Norris, associate professor of Spanish and translation at Texas A&M International University<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n De Le\u00f3n led several expeditions into Texas in the late 1600s, including one in search of French settlers who had established a colony in territory claimed by Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n During his 1690 expedition, Norris said in an email that de Le\u00f3n and his companions traveled northeast toward the territory of the Hasinai people<\/a>, where they established the first Spanish mission San Francisco de los Tejas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Along the way, de Le\u00f3n kept a detailed expedition diary, with daily entries describing the distance they had covered, the direction and what they saw. Norris translated de Le\u00f3n\u2019s diaries in a book<\/a>, \u201cGeneral Alonso de Le\u00f3n\u2019s Expedition Diaries into Texas (1686-1690).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDe Le\u00f3n named all locations and valleys where the expedition party stopped and all the rivers they crossed,\u201d Norris said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Norris said de Le\u00f3n named what is now called the Trinity River on May 19, 1690, the \u201cR\u00edo de la Sant\u00edsima Trinidad,\u201d which translates to the River of the Most Holy Trinity.\u00a0<\/p>\n The places and rivers de Le\u00f3n encountered during the 1690 expedition were \u201calmost exclusively,\u201d Norris said, named for saints or other Catholic entities. The Trinity River was named by de Le\u00f3n around the time of the Feast of the Holy Trinity<\/a>, a religious holiday also known as Trinity Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Norris said other names given to landmarks on the 1690 expedition included R\u00edo de San Carlos and R\u00edo del Esp\u00edritu Santo.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The 1690 expedition was different from de Le\u00f3n\u2019s 1689 expedition, Norris said, as many of the given landmark names were more descriptive than Catholic-inspired. For instance, de Le\u00f3n named the Nueces River<\/a>, the \u201cR\u00edo de las Nueces,\u201d because of the pecan trees growing along its banks, according to the Texas State Historical Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Why does Dallas exist? Curious Texas answers what we’ve all been wondering<\/a><\/p>\n Did the Trinity River have other names?<\/p>\n The Trinity River has also been identified as the stream that the Caddo<\/a> called the \u201cArkikosa\u201d in Central Texas and \u201cDaycoa\u201d along the coast, according to the Texas State Historical Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n