The Chickasawhay River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

, about long, in southeastern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

in the

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. It is a principal

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 drainag ...

of the

Pascagoula River The Pascagoula River is a river, about 80 miles (130 km) long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. The river drains an area of about 8,800 square miles (23,000 km²) and flows into Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexico. ...

, which flows to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

. The Chickasawhay's tributaries also drain a portion of western

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. The name "Chickasawhay" comes from the Choctaw word ''chikashsha-ahi'', literally "Chickasaw potato".

Geology

The Chickasawhay River is known for its abundance of fossil deposits, placed over a period of 35 million years. Dr. Mark Puckett, Chairman of the Department of Geography and Geology at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

, has studied the area for years. According to Pucket, many species of fossils from the river were the first of their kind to be studied anywhere on earth. Some sealife fossils that are now found worldwide, were first discovered in deposits along this river, from a period when it was part of the sea. Some species are named for local towns and landmarks.

Course

The Chickasawhay is formed by the confluence of the

Chunky River The Chunky River is a short tributary of the Chickasawhay River in east-central Mississippi. Via the Chickasawhay, it is part of the watershed of the Pascagoula River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Course The river is formed between t ...

and Okatibbee Creek, where

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developed in northwestern Clarke County, and it flows generally southward through present-day Clarke, Wayne and Greene counties into northern George County, where it meets the Leaf River to form the Pascagoula River just north of the Merrill bridge. The Chickasawhay flows past the towns of Stonewall, Quitman, Shubuta, Waynesboro, Buckatunna, State Line and Leakesville. Shubuta, like many other towns along the rivers, was developed by European Americans from a trading post near an indigenous Choctaw village.

References

External links

"Chickasawhay River"
''Columbia Gazetteer of North America'' Bodies of water of Clarke County, Mississippi Bodies of water of George County, Mississippi Bodies of water of Greene County, Mississippi Rivers of Mississippi Bodies of water of Wayne County, Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin {{Mississippi-river-stub

Geology

Course

See also

References

External links