The Ocmulgee River () is a western
tributary of the
Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the
U.S. state of
Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.
[Ocmulgee River](_blank)
'' New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (August 9, 2004). It was formerly known by its
Hitchiti name of Ocheese Creek, from which the
Creek
A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet.
Creek may also refer to:
People
* Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans
...
(Muscogee) people derived their name.
The Ocmulgee River and its tributaries provide
drainage for some 6,180 square miles in parts of
33 Georgia counties, a large section of the
Piedmont and
coastal plain of central Georgia.
The Ocmulgee River
basin has three river subbasins designated by the
U.S. Geological Survey: the Upper Ocmulgee River subbasin (
hydrologic unit code 03070103); the Lower Ocmulgee River Subbasin (03070104); and the Little Ocmulgee River Subbasin (03070105).
[Ocmulgee River Basin Plan, Section 2: River Basin Characteristics](_blank)
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division.
The name of the river may have come from a
Hitchiti words ''oki'' ("water") plus ''molki'' ("bubbling" or "boiling"),
possibly meaning "where the water boils up."
Description
The river
rises at a point in north central Georgia southeast of
Atlanta, at the confluence of the
Yellow,
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, and
Alcovy rivers.
Since the construction of the Lloyd Shoals Dam in the early 20th century, these rivers join as arms of the
Jackson Lake reservoir.
The river's source is formed at an elevation of around 530 feet above
sea level.
The Ocmulgee River flows from the dam southeast past
Macon, which was founded on the
Fall Line. It joins the
Oconee from the northwest (241 miles downstream from Jackson Lake) to form the
Altamaha near
Lumber City.
The Ocmulgee River Water Trail begins from Macon's
Amerson River Park to the confluence near Lumber city and Hazelhurst, encompassing approximately 200 miles.
Human use
Four
power plants in the Ocmulgee basin that use the river's water, including the
coal-fired Plant Scherer in
Juliette
Juliette is a feminine personal name of French origin. It is a diminutive of Julie.
Notable people
*Juliette (Canadian singer) (1926-2017), full name Juliette Augustina Sysak Cavazzi, Canadian singer and TV personality of the 1950s-1970s. known ...
, operated by the
Georgia Power Company
Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consolida ...
.
[Ocmulgee River: Quick Facts about the River](_blank)
Georgia River Network (accessed June 6, 2015). Plant Scherer is the seventh-largest power plant in the United States by capacity , and the largest to be fueled exclusively by coal.
Fish fauna
A diverse array of fish—105 species in twenty-one
families—inhabit the Ocmulgee River basin.
The family with the largest representation in the river basin is ''
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...
'' (carp and true minnows), with 27 species.
It is followed by ''
Centrarchidae'' (sunfish), which has 22 species.
The Ocmulgee basin contains ten species in the family ''
Ictaluridae'' (catfish) and eight species of in the family ''
Catostomidae'' (suckers).
The river basin is also inhabited by one State of Georgia-designated
endangered fish species, the Altamaha shiner (''Cyprinella xaenura'') and two designated rare species, the
goldstripe darter
The goldstripe darter (''Etheostoma parvipinne'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also contains the perches, Gymnocephalus, ruffes and S ...
(''Etheostoma parvipinne'') and
redeye chub (''Notropis harperi'').
The Ocmulgee River is popular with
anglers for its excellent fishing, particularly for
redbreast sunfish,
bluegill
The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...
,
redear sunfish
The redear sunfish (''Lepomis microlophus''), also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch) is a freshwater fish in the family Centrarchidae and is native to the southeast ...
,
largemouth bass,
black crappie
The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black sp ...
,
channel catfish
The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...
, and
flathead catfish.
The world record for largest recorded catch of a
largemouth bass was achieved in 1932 in Montgomery Lake, an
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...
off the Ocmulgee River in
Telfair County.
[Richard J. Lenz, ''Highroad Guide to the Georgia Coast and Okefenokee'' (Longstreet Press: 1999), p. 199.] The record-setting fish, caught by farmer George Washington Perry, weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
The
International Game Fish Association officially declared the world record for largemouth bass tied in 2010, following Manabu Kurita's catch (in July 2009) of a 22 pound, 4 ounce largemouth taken from
Lake Biwa in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
There are some fifteen
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
of fish which inhabit the river basin.
According to a
Georgia Department of Natural Resources report, "many of these species are well-established and are detrimental to native fish populations.
The fifteen invasives are
threadfin shad
The threadfin shad (''Dorosoma petenense'') is a small pelagic fish common in rivers, large streams, and reservoirs of the Southeastern United States. Like the American gizzard shad, the threadfin shad has an elongated dorsal ray, but unlike the ...
(''Dorosoma petenense''),
goldfish (''Carassius auratus''),
grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella''),
blacktail shiner
The blacktail shiner (''Cyprinella venusta'') is a small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to the United States.
Description and anatomy
The blacktail shiner is a somewhat slender minnow with 8-9 rays on the anal fin, and a promi ...
(''Cyprinella venusta'');
common carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
(''
Cyprinus carpio'');
flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris'');
white bass (''Morone chrysops'');
morone hybrids (''Morone'' sp.);
green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'');
longear sunfish
The longear sunfish (''Lepomis megalotis'') is a freshwater fish in the sunfish family, Centrarchidae, of order Perciformes. It is native to the area of eastern North America stretching from the Great Lakes down to northeastern Mexico.Berra, Tim ...
(''Lepomis megalotis'');
Lepomis hybrids (''Lepomis'' sp.);
shoal bass (''Micropterus cataractae'');
spotted bass (''Micropterus punctulatus'');
white crappie
The white crappie (''Pomoxis annularis'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two species of crappies. Alternate common names for the species include goldring and silver perch. is named for the fish. The genus name ''Pomoxis ...
(''Pomoxis annularis''); and
yellow perch (''Perca flavescens'').
History
Archeological evidence shows that
Native Americans first inhabited the Ocmulgee basin about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago (see
settlement of the Americas).
Scraping tools and
flint spearpoints from
nomadic
Paleoindians hunters have been discovered in the Ocmulgee floodplain.
In the
Archaic period (c. 8000-1000 BCE) which followed, hunter-gatherers in Ocmulgee basin used fiber-
tempered pottery and
stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
s.
During the
Woodland period
In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...
(c. 1000 BCE-900 CE), there were various villages in the area, evidenced by earthen mounds and pottery
sherd
In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well.
Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...
s.
There is evidence that the
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...
reached the Ocmulgee basin by 900 CE; according to the ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'', "on the Macon plateau and in the nearby Ocmulgee bottomlands, stretches of farmsteads and gardens constructed around elaborate ceremonial mounds are the most prominent evidence of this early Mississippian influence."
These areas are now part of the
Ocmulgee National Monument
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument) in Macon, Georgia, United States preserves traces of over ten millennia of culture from the Native Americans in the Southeastern Woodlands. Its chief remains are majo ...
, a
National Park Service-administered protected area established in 1936.
Europeans first explored the Ocmulgee basin in 1540, during the expedition of the Spanish explorer
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
and his party, who visited the late Mississippian chiefdom of
Ichisi, now identified by archeologists as the floodplain south of
Macon.
The Ichisi served corncakes,
wild onion Wild onion can refer to
* any uncultivated species in the genus ''Allium'', especially:
**''Allium bisceptrum''
** ''Allium canadense''
** ''Allium tricoccum''
** ''Allium validum''
** ''Allium vineale''
* ''Asphodelus tenuifolius''
* ''Cyperus bulb ...
, and roasted
venison to De Soto and his party.
Over the next hundred years, however, the Native Americans in the area were devastated from
disease and chaos following European contact.
Between 1689 and 1692, a number of towns of the
Apalachicola people located on the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
moved to central Georgia, settling in the area of the Ocmulgee River, which the English at the time called Ochese Creek. In 1715, the English recorded ten towns among the "Ochese Creek Indians" (which the Spanish called "Uchese"), with a population of 2,406. Early 18th century maps show a total of twelve towns in the vicinity of Ochese Creek, many with names corresponding to towns that had been on the Chattahoochee River. The
Muscogee-speaking towns of
Coweta,
Kasihta, Tuskegee, and Koloni were located on the north side of the cluster. Several of the
Hitchiti-speaking towns were located to the southern part of the Ochese Creek cluster, including Ocmulgee, Hitchiti, and Osuchi. Two Muskogee-speaking towns from the
Tallapoosa River in Alabama, Atasi and Kealedji, joined the cluster of towns around Ochese Creek, as did the Hitchiti-speaking town of
Chiaha from western North Carolina. The Ochese Creek cluster also included
Westo and
Yuchi towns. Following the outbreak of the
Yamassee War in 1715, the Ochese Creek towns moved west, mostly returning to the Chattahoochee River, where they evolved into the
Lower Towns of the Muscogee Confederacy (referred to by the English as the "Lower Creeks").
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
Although Whitney hi ...
's invention of the
cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
stimulated development of short-staple cotton plantations in the uplands, where it grew well. The gin mechanized processing of the cotton and made it profitable. Demand for land in the Southeast increased, as well as demand for slave labor in the Deep South. In 1806, the U.S. acquired the area between the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers from the Creek Indians by the
First Treaty of Washington
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. That same year
United States Army established
Fort Benjamin Hawkins overlooking the Ocmulgee Fields. In 1819 the Creek held their last meeting at Ocmulgee Fields. they ceded this territory in 1821.
In the same year, the McCall brother established a barge-building operation at Macon. The first
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
arrived on the river in 1829. During the 19th century, the river provided the principal water navigation route for Macon, allowing the development of the
cotton industry in the surrounding region. In 1842 the river was connected by
railroad to
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
. The river froze from bank to bank in 1886. In 1994 devastating floods on the river after heavy rains caused widespread damage around Macon.
"1994 flood"
Centers for Disease Control
Ocmulgee creeks
Major creeks that flow into the Ocmulgee River include:
* Tucsawhatchee Creek
**This tributary is largely known as "Big Creek" on most maps. While USGS does recognize Tucsawhatchee Creek, even their maps name it as "Big Creek."https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/02215100/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D
* Echeconnee Creek Echeconnee Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is a tributary to the Ocmulgee River.
Echeconnee is a name derived from the Muskogee language
The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Mus ...
**This tributary's name means "deer trap" in the Muscogee language
The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Muskogean languages, Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Along with Mikasuki ...
, the language of the Creek
A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet.
Creek may also refer to:
People
* Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans
...
. It refers to the steep incline of the creek where Creeks would trap deer, luring them into steep areas and then charging them.
* Alligator Creek
* Big Indian Creek
* Coley Creek
Coley may refer to:
Places
*Coley, a place in the Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica
* Coley, Berkshire, an inner-town district in Berkshire, England
*Coley Park, a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, England
* Coley's Point, a settlement in Newfoundland and ...
* Big Horse Creek
* Flat Creek
* Folsom Creek Folsom may refer to:
People
* Folsom (surname)
Places in the United States
* Folsom, Perry County, Alabama
* Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama
* Folsom, California
* Folsom, Georgia
* Folsom, Louisiana
* Folsom, Missouri
* Folsom, New Jersey
* ...
* Horse Creek
* Jordan Creek
* Limestone Creek
Limestone Creek is long with a Drainage basin, drainage area of , and is a tributary to the Tennessee River. The river rises in Lincoln County, Tennessee, Lincoln County, Tennessee, and flows south into Madison County, Alabama, Madison County, A ...
* Little Ocmulgee River
The Little Ocmulgee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 21, 2011 tributary of the Ocmulgee River in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers t ...
(Gum Swamp Creek)
* Little Shellstone Creek
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
* Little Sturgeon Creek
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
* Mossy Creek
* Otter Creek
* Richland Creek
* Sandy Run Creek
Sandy may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Sandy (surname), a list of people
*Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983)
* (Sandy) ...
* Savage Creek
* Shellstone Creek
* South Shellstone Creek
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
* Sturgeon Creek
Sturgeon Creek is a former provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1969, and was abolished in 1999.
Sturgeon Creek was located in the northwestern area section of Winnipeg. It was ...
* Sugar Creek
* Ten Mile Creek
* Tobesofkee Creek
Tobesofkee Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 river in Georgia. It originates near Barnesville and flows roughly southeast across Lamar, Monroe, ...
* Walnut Creek
See also
* Indian old field
* Okmulgee, Oklahoma
References
*
Relevant readings
*Watson, Chris. 2022. ''The Wild and the Sacred: Evaluating and Protecting the Ocmulgee River Corridor'', Vol. 1. Series edited by S. Heather Duncan. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
*Day, Dominic. 2022. ''A River of Time: Archaeological Treasures of the Ocmulgee Corridor'', vol. 2. Series edited by S. Heather Duncan. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
*Bigman, Daniel Philip. ''From Settlement to Society: A History of the Early Mississippian Settlement at Ocmulgee,'' Volume 3. Series edited by S. Heather Duncan. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
External links
City of Macon history
{{authority control
Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state)
Geography of Macon, Georgia
Rivers of Bibb County, Georgia