Lake Chicot ( ) is a lake adjacent to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. The lake is located on the east side of Lake Village,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

in Chicot County. It is the largest

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, as well as the largest natural lake in

. The name ''Chicot'', French for "stumpy," refers to the many

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

stumps and trees along the lake banks. The lake is approximately wide and long from end to end. The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism operates Lake Chicot State Park on the northern end of the lake, which includes fishing, boating, and camping facilities, as well as a wildlife museum. Chicot County also operates a county park on the eastern side of the lake across from Lake Village.

Activities

Fishing When the dam at Cornerly Bayou was destroyed in a flood in 1927, silt and mud came pouring into the southern end of the lake. The pollution of the southern part of the lake eventually killed off the bass population. The upper part of the lake was protected by a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, so it remained clean and protected. In 1968, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission,

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

, and Chicot County Rural Development Authority began to restore Lake Chicot to its original state. The groups decided to drain the water off the polluted section of the lake to compress sediment on the bottom, and plant

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

that would provide a stable environment for fish species. The southern part of Lake Chicot was restocked, and has become a stable ecosystem. Fish species that can be caught in the lake include: bluegills, channel catfish, largemouth bass, hybrid striper bass, crappie, redear sunfish, and bream. Boating Lake Chicot State Park contains a marina and boat launches at Lake Chicot Park, Jack R. Rhodes Lake Front Park in downtown Lake Village, and the Chicot County Park. Lake Chicot State Park The park contains bottomland hardwoods and intersects the

Mississippi Flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of t ...

. Visitors engage in hiking, camping, boating, and birdwatching. There are 122 campsites and 14 cabins located in Lake Chicot State Park.

History

In the 1820s, the land around Lake Chicot (also known as "Old River Lake") began to be filled with American settlers. At this time, cotton farms worked by slaves were common in the land surrounding the lake. One particular cotton plantation of note was the

Sunnyside Plantation The Sunnyside Plantation was a former cotton plantation and is a historic site, located near Lake Village in Chicot County, Arkansas, in the Arkansas Delta region. Built as a cotton plantation in the Antebellum South, it was farmed using th ...

, located on the shores of Lake Chicot. Sunnyside was created in the 1830s, and became the home of an Italian immigrant colony. In the mid 1800s Chicot County's population was 9,234, and of that number 7,512 were slaves. The biggest Civil War battle in Chicot County was fought on June 6, 1864 on the shores of Lake Chicot. In the Battle of Old River Lake, Union and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldiers engaged in battle on the southern shore of the lake. The Union eventually won the battle. By moving the Confederates out of the

, travel became much safer and easier. This was considered one of Arkansas' final

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

battles.

References

{{authority control Chicot Bodies of water of Chicot County, Arkansas Chicot Tourist attractions in Chicot County, Arkansas