History
The Colorado River, which means "colored red", was frequently confused by Spanish explorers with the Brazos River to the north. It is this confusion as well as an alleged mapping error that is believed to have led to its misnaming.
The upper Colorado River was controlled by Comanches from the early 18th century to the late 19th century. In 1757, Spanish Texas attempted to establish an outlying mission on the San Saba River, near its confluence with the Colorado River. Nearly defenseless and viewed by the Comanche as a territorial invasion, the mission was sacked in 1758 by about 2,000 Comanches and their allies. The Comanche were not effectively challenged on the upper Colorado River for nearly a century.
Read more about this topic: Colorado River (Texas)
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—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)