Ocmulgee River

Overview map of the Ocmulgee River system ( highlighted)

The Ocmulgee River [ oʊ̯kməlɡi ɹɪvɚ ː ] is a tributary of the Altamaha River with a length of about 410 km, which runs in the state of Georgia in the southeastern United States. The relatively unspoilt and gently running river is the main drainage of the Piedmont Region and the coastal region of the central area in Georgia.

Course

The river is formed southeast of the city of Atlanta by the confluence of the Yellowstone, the South and the Alcovy River, forming the arms of the reservoir Lake Jackson. The Ocmulgee runs southeast past Macon, there overcomes the river in his fall line and the height difference between the Piedmont Plateau and the Coastal Plain and connects to a native of the Northwest Oconee River near Lumber City to the Altamaha River.

Below the Lake Jackson, the river flows without any containment or straightening and differs from most rivers in the region. The low flow rate of about 24 centimeters per kilometer makes the flow over large parts of its course its quiet and wide. This river is also popular with canoeists. The Ocmulgee receives treated water from sewage treatment plants 13 along the river and is a popular area for fishing for catfish and perch.

History

The river banks were inhabited between the 10th and 12th centuries from the Mississippian culture. There have been a number of remains of prehistoric Native American settlements in the region around Macon found, now part of the Ocmulgee National Monument. Traveled in 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto through the region, and baptized some converted Indians in the Ocmulgee River. In the 18th century Hitchiti settled, later members of the Creek Nation near present-day Macon in Ocmulgee Old Fields. The name of the river probably comes from the Hitchiti language and means " Flowing water " ( oki mulgis ). 1806 the United States acquired the territory of the Creek tribes of the Oconee and Ocmulgee by the First Treaty of Washington. In the same year the United States Army built Fort Benjamin Hawkins above the Ocmulgee Fields. The last meeting of the Creek on the Old Field took place in 1819.

The first steamboat sailed in 1829 the river and in the wake of the Ocmulgee became an important waterway for the cotton industry of the Macon region and promoted their development. 1842, the river was connected to the railway line to Savannah. The river froze in 1886 from bank to bank to complete, a severe flood hit the region after heavy rains in 1994, causing widespread damage in and around Macon.