Bashi Creek, also historically known as Bashai Creek, is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

in northern

Clarke County Clarke County may refer to: ;Places *One of five counties in the United States: **Clarke County, Alabama **Clarke County, Georgia **Clarke County, Iowa **Clarke County, Mississippi **Clarke County, Virginia Clarke County is a county in the Com ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Location

Bashi Creek originates near

Bashi Bashi ( fa, باشي, also Romanized as Bāshī) is a village in Delvar Rural District, Delvar District, Tangestan County, Bushehr Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country ...

, at coordinates of , and discharges into the Tombigbee River near Woods Bluff, at coordinates of . It is located above the

Coffeeville Lock and Dam Coffeeville Lock and Dam are located on the Tombigbee River in Choctaw County, Alabama near the town of Coffeeville operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Org ...

and is the only inlet off the river for several miles. There is a paved boat ramp located on the creek.

Etymology

The creek first appears on an 1844 map as Bashai Creek. Language scholars believe Bashi to be an adaptation of the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

word ''bachaya'', meaning "line," "row," or "course".

Bashi Formation

The creek has lent its name to the Bashi Formation, formerly also known as the Woods Bluff Formation, a

greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and c ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

strata dating to the early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

. The creek flows through the exposed strata of the formation.

Bashi Skirmish

The Bashi Skirmish in the

Creek War The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...

was fought near the banks of this creek and took its name from the waterway.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Alabama Tributaries of the Tombigbee River Rivers of Clarke County, Alabama Alabama placenames of Native American origin