Saturday, November 22, 2008

Mantachie Creek: A Major Tributary of the Tombigbee

Mantachie Creek, labled as Hatchie Pullo Creek on early Chickasaw Cession records is a major water course in western Itawamba County. Beginning just east of the old antbellum Itawamba County town of Guntown (in present-day Lee County) the creek runs in a southeasterly direction several miles before it empties into the Tombigbee River, north of the old river port town of Van Buren. The photograph above was taken Thursday from the Peppertown Road Bridge looking to the west, not far from the creek's confluence with the Tombigbee River. Early maps of the county have the creek spelled Mataches with the name Mantachie in use as early as the 1850's. During antebellum times, some of Itawamba County's larger farms were located along this creek, and today this area continues to be a major agricultural area.
 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The guy I married would call that a "crick"!; however, curious eyes observed on "the shady side of the creek" that the grass appears to be green, yet the sunny side appears brown from frosts. So, what winter crop is planted there? bettye

Bob Franks said...

I've heard "crick" used many times also Bettye. The shady side is just grass and I wonder if the large bottomland trees on that side protected the grass from the several frosts we've had lately. On the other side of the creek, it's just a big open pasture for cattle in this particular location.