ARANSAS RIVER. The Aransas River rises at the confluence of Olmos, Aransas, and Poesta creeks, two miles north of Skidmore in south central Bee County (at 28°17' N, 97°40' W). It flows southeast for forty miles, forming the boundary between San Patricio and Refugio counties and continuing into Aransas County, where it empties into Copano Bay ten miles northwest of Rockport (at 28°05' N, 97°13' W). The river, named for an Indian group, traverses flat to rolling terrain with clay loam and sandy loam soils that support water-tolerant hardwoods and grasses. While Texas was attempting to secure separate statehood from Coahuila (see COAHUILA AND TEXAS), Juan N. Almonte wrote that the Aransas formed the southwestern boundary of Texas: "Notwithstanding that up to the present it has been believed that the river Nueces is the dividing line between Coahuila and Texas, for so it appears on maps, I am informed by the government of the State, that in this an error has been committed by geographers, and that the true boundary ought to commence at the mouth of the Aransas and continue up to its source."
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article."ARANSAS RIVER," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rna02), accessed May 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.