Ocmulgee River
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The Ocmulgee River () is a western
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
Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles (220 km) from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties ...
, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.Ocmulgee River
''
New Georgia Encyclopedia The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System o ...
'' (August 9, 2004).
It was formerly known by its
Hitchiti The Hitchiti ( ) were a historic indigenous tribe in the Southeast United States. They formerly resided chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, four miles below Chiaha, in western present-day Georgia. The n ...
name of Ocheese Creek, from which the Creek (Muscogee) people derived their name. The Ocmulgee River and its tributaries provide
drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...
for some 6,180 square miles in parts of 33 Georgia counties, a large section of the
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
and
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...
of central Georgia. The Ocmulgee River basin has three river subbasins designated by the
U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...
: the Upper Ocmulgee River subbasin (
hydrologic unit code A hydrological code or hydrologic unit code is a sequence of numbers or letters (a '' geocode'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such as a river, river reach, lake, or area like a drainage basin (also called watershed in North Ameri ...
03070103); the Lower Ocmulgee River Subbasin (03070104); and the Little Ocmulgee River Subbasin (03070105).Ocmulgee River Basin Plan, Section 2: River Basin Characteristics
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division.
The name of the river may have come from a
Hitchiti The Hitchiti ( ) were a historic indigenous tribe in the Southeast United States. They formerly resided chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, four miles below Chiaha, in western present-day Georgia. The n ...
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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, at the confluence of the
Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
,
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 A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
. The river's source is formed at an elevation of around 530 feet above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
. The Ocmulgee River flows from the dam southeast past Macon, which was founded on the
Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
. 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 Amerson River Park, also known as Amerson Water Works Park, is an urban park in Macon, Georgia. The park was closed after the flood of 1994. In 2015, the park was re-opened and named Amerson River Park after renovations were made costing 5.5 mi ...
to the confluence near Lumber city and Hazelhurst, encompassing approximately 200 miles.


Human use

Four
power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...
s in the Ocmulgee basin that use the river's water, including the
coal-fired Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
Plant Scherer The Robert W. Scherer Power Plant (also known as Plant Scherer) is a coal-fired power plant in Juliette, Georgia, just north of Macon, Georgia, in the United States. The plant has four generating units, each capable of producing 930 megawatt ...
in Juliette, 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
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 Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
—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 Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes (formerly belonging to the deprecated order Centrarchiformes), native only to North America. There are eight universally inc ...
'' (sunfish), which has 22 species. The Ocmulgee basin contains ten species in the family ''
Ictaluridae The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madto ...
'' (catfish) and eight species of in the family ''
Catostomidae The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are ''Catostomus catostomus,'' found in ...
'' (suckers). The river basin is also inhabited by one State of Georgia-designated
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
fish species, the Altamaha shiner (''Cyprinella xaenura'') and two designated rare species, the goldstripe darter (''Etheostoma parvipinne'') and
redeye chub Redeye chub (''Notropis harperi'') is a species of cyprinid 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. Cyprinida ...
(''Notropis harperi''). The Ocmulgee River is popular with anglers for its excellent fishing, particularly for
redbreast sunfish The redbreast sunfish (''Lepomis auritus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (family Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to the river systems of eastern Canada and the United Sta ...
,
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 The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
,
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 flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus ''P ...
. The world record for largest recorded catch of a
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
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 The International Game Fish Association (''IGFA'') is the leading authority on angling pursuits and the keeper of the most current World Record fishing catches by fish categories. Fishermen who are sport fishers are careful to follow their string ...
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 is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th ol ...
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 The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resources, and has five ...
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 The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have ...
(''Carassius auratus''),
grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...
(''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 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 ...
'');
flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus ''P ...
(''Pylodictis olivaris'');
white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white s ...
(''Morone chrysops'');
morone ''Morone'' is a genus of temperate basses native to the Atlantic coast of North America and the freshwater systems of the southwestern and eastern United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United ...
hybrids (''Morone'' sp.);
green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usu ...
(''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 ''Lepomis'' or true sunfish is a genus of North American freshwater fish from the family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes (perch-like fish). The generic name ''Lepomis'' derives from the Greek ("scale") and ("cover", "plug", " operculu ...
hybrids (''Lepomis'' sp.);
shoal bass The shoal bass (''Micropterus cataractae'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of order (biology), order Perciformes. One of the black basses, it is native to waters in Florida and Georgia (U.S ...
(''Micropterus cataractae'');
spotted bass The spotted bass (''Micropterus punctulatus''), also called spotty, or spots in various fishing communities, is a species of North American freshwater fish belonging to the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. It is noted f ...
(''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 The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...
(''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 The settlement of the Americas began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers entered North America from the North Asian Mammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lowering of ...
). Scraping tools and flint spearpoints from
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic 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 The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
-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 tricoccum'' (commonly known as ramp, ramps, ramson, wild leek, wood leek, o ...
, and roasted
venison Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, in ...
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 Apalachicola (sometimes Palachacola) was the name of a Native American town and chiefdom, and of the people living in it, and of a group of towns associated with it, located along the lower part of the Chattahoochee River in present-day Alabama ...
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 The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCoweta Coweta is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States, a suburb of Tulsa. As of 2010, its population was 9,943. Part of the Creek Nation in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a U.S. state, the town was first settled in 1840.Kasihta Cusseta, also known as Kasihta, was a Peace Town of the Lower Towns, a division of the Muscogee Confederacy. It was located in what the Spanish called Apalachicola Province on the Chattahoochee River, then in what is now the state of Georgia near ...
, Tuskegee, and Koloni were located on the north side of the cluster. Several of the
Hitchiti The Hitchiti ( ) were a historic indigenous tribe in the Southeast United States. They formerly resided chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, four miles below Chiaha, in western present-day Georgia. The n ...
-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 The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and wes ...
in Alabama, Atasi and Kealedji, joined the cluster of towns around Ochese Creek, as did the Hitchiti-speaking town of
Chiaha Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the ...
from western North Carolina. The Ochese Creek cluster also included
Westo The Westo were an Iroquoian Native American tribe encountered in the Southeastern U.S. by Europeans in the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian language. The Spanish called these people Chichimeco (not to be confused with Chichimeca i ...
and
Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...
towns. Following the outbreak of the
Yamassee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples, includ ...
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. That same year
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
established
Fort Benjamin Hawkins Fort Hawkins was a fort built between 1806 and 1810 in the historic Creek Nation by the United States government under President Thomas Jefferson and used until 1824. Built in what is now Georgia at the Fall Line on the east side of the Ocmulgee Ri ...
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 Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
industry in the surrounding region. In 1842 the river was connected by
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
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 **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. 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 *
Big Horse Creek Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television sh ...
* Flat Creek * Folsom Creek * 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 Sturgeon Creek * 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) A ...
* Savage Creek * Shellstone Creek * South Shellstone Creek * Sturgeon Creek * 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, ...
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Walnut Creek A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...


See also

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Indian old field Indian Old Field, or simply Old Field, was a common term used in Colonial American times and up until the early nineteenth century United States, by American explorers, surveyors, cartographers and settlers, in reference to land formerly cleared a ...
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Okmulgee, Oklahoma Okmulgee is a city in, and the county seat of, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. The name is from the Mvskoke word ''okimulgee,'' which means "boiling waters".Bamburg, Maxine"Okmulgee,"''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Accessed June 16 ...


References

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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