As Dr. John Watkins and other settlers disembarked from steamboats at Holly Creek in 1813 the river culture of Southwest Alabama was already beginning to take shape. Predating Anglo settlers were Native Americans who lived in the river delta for generations before the arrival of the Europeans and who had a rich and vibrant culture of their own.
The river culture that Dr. Watkins met on his journey to Burnt Corn would flourish in Antebellum Alabama until the storm clouds of the Civil War ushered in a new era of change.
In a time where roads were few and other forms of transportation were nonexistent, rivers were the interstate of the day. The riverboats of the era carried valuable supplies and transported cotton to Mobile. Dignitaries, gamblers, soldiers, settlers, and paupers alike traveled the river arteries of the region in route to various destinations. Kneel boats, and later steamboats, roamed the rivers in great numbers during this period.
The arrival of the steamboat made the movement of settlers and materials far easier than previous methods and thousands embarked on the voyage south in steamers which were somewhat dangerous due to the precarious temperament of boilers which were subject to explode.
Some riverboat pilots were reckless and would race one another down the river. Occasionally these pilots (some of whom were drunk) would crash their ships into sandbars while involved in these haphazard races. Steamboats ruled the Alabama rivers until the 1920s when modern forms of transportation took hold.
During the hay-day of the river steamboat, settlers would board the boats at places such as Montgomery and Tombigbee. Many settlers arrived in Southwest Alabama by way of the Ft. Mims area. The fort is best known as the site of one of the opening salvos of the Creek Indian War but it was also a disembarkation point in Southwest Alabama for countless pioneer settlers during the "Alabama Fever" era.
Adjacent to Ft. Mims is Boatyard Lake where it is believed that Creek warriors landed before attacking the fort. Settlers would arrive at Boatyard Lake by riverboat then take a short road to Holly Creek where a ferry would take them to the opposite bank. Thereafter the settlers would journey the Federal Road.
Some settlers would stop at the town of Montgomery Hill (Ft. Montgomery) before going further into Alabama's frontier interior. Supplies to build Ft. Crawford (near present day East Brewton) were transported from Ft. Mims by way of the Ft. Montgomery to Ft. Crawford Road in 1816.
During the War Between the States the cypress and pine laden swamps around Boatyard Lake and Fort Mims were filled with the rumble and roar of canon fire as the U.S. and Confederate navies fought for control of Mobile Bay. Ft. Pierce, just south of Boatyard Lake, was alive with economic activity during this era which included a grist mill and shipping point for Confederate goods. In April 1865, the last great act of the American tragedy that was the Civil War played out just miles south of Boatyard Lake at the Battle of Ft. Blakely.
By the late 1860s better roads and expanding rail lines diminished the importance of the antebellum river culture that had developed prior to the war. Furthermore, population centers shifted and the movement of goods relied more on roads and rail. Eventually the river lost much of its hold on commerce and transportation.
Today the rivers, lakes, and slues around Boatyard Lake whisper gentle reminders of the antebellum era and the Civil War. The old iron bridge near Mims Lake is but a fleeting mention on the yellowing pages of dusty old history books. The site of river going smoke stacks moving down the river has been replaced by the roar of the sportman's engine. Yet gathered around late night campfires, recreational river goers of today share a common bond with the river delta and the settlers of old who arrived here in the early 1800s and witnessed the clash of two great armies during the 1860s.
The members of the William Carney Camp-SCV are raffling tickets for a Griswold and Gunnison Replica Revolver. The revolver will be auctioned at William's Station Day in Atmore. Tickets for this beautiful, non-firing replica are $1 per ticket and the majority of the proceeds from the raffle will go to the Camp project to place a historic marker at Canoe, AL.
Anyone interested in purchasing tickets should contact a member of the camp or email the Camp at the website http://www.campcarneyscv.org.
