Dale County AlArchives News.....The Choctawhatchee River - Part 1 1983 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 April 24, 2004, 4:16 pm Southern Star The History Corner (Southern Star date unknown) The Choctawhatchee River-Part I By Creel Richardson On his 1907 map of Dale County the late Frank 0. Deese traced the paths of the West Choctawhatchee, the East Choctawhatchee, and the Little Choc- tawhatchee rivers. The first two, flowing south and southwest out of Barbour and Henry counties, respectively, merge their waters a short distance north of Pinckard. The Little Choctawhatchee,flowing west and also forming the boundary of Dale and Houston counties,empties into the water of the others near Clayhatchee. From there the course is south into the Gulf of Mexico. The name is apparently from the Choctaw terms "Chasta Nasche." In his 1686 Journey from a point near Apalache in Spanish Florida, to the Creek Nation in the Coosa River region of Alabama, Marcos Delgado with his squad of Spanish soldiers and Indians passed through present day Dale County. A short distance west of present day Dothan they marched through a wooded area of "chestnut, holly and laurel trees". At this point the company crossed the Little Choctawhatchee which measured 36 feet in width, and 12 feet in depth. In the adjacent woods they saw "many buffaloes and bears". Moving north they crossed the 'Big' Choctawhatchee near the Highway 231 crossing. At this point the river was 140 feet wide and 12 feet deep. (Note: Some authorities think that Delgado was the first white man after DeSoto to travel into central Alabama.) During the War of 1812- 14 the U.S.Government constructed a Military Road from Ft. Hawkins in Georgia to Pensacola, Florida, for troop movement from Georgia and the Carolinas to the New Orleans area. This road crossed the Choctawhatchee just below the fork of East and West Choctawhatchee. A flat or ferry was used to cross the river at this point. On April 21, 1819, Thomas Stocks, enroute from Central Georgia to Pensacola crossed the river in a "Small Tottering Canoe... without any accident but with considerable difficulty". He noted that the stream was very rapid and about 60 yards wide. A block house was erected at the fork but was never fortified. It was the site of one of Dale's first settlements. Early settlers included Shadrach Mills, John Turner, Isaac Snell, Alan Cooley, Benjamin Andrews, and Daniel Windham. Other early settlers in that section included Samuel Walden, John and Tye Whitehurst, brothers, John Beverett,Thomas 0. Dick, Ellis Snell, and Seaborn Ledbetter. Tye Whitehurst was selected by the State Legislature to serve as the first Probate Judge of Dale County; but it was discovered that his residence was outside the county limits at the time and he could not serve. His brother John was named as the postmaster when the Post Office- blockhouse- was established in 1833. John Beverett and Thomas 0. Dick operated the ferry across the river. Seaborn Ledbetter operated a store at the blockhouse. After a short time there he moved it to the Bertha community, and later to Daleville. Billie Stevens of the Broxton community above Geneva was the first man to navigate the Choctawhatchee up to the block house community. Twice in 1824- the year Dale was created- he brought supplies from Pensacola on his pole boat for the settlers at the fork. He continued for a few years and some of the supplies were sold to Ledbetter. In 1827 Ledbetter employed one Mr.Hogue to build a boat for his use on the river. It was shaped like a bateau, and had a capacity for 300 bales of cotton. It was decked on top where men could stand with long poles having spikes and hooks to move the boat up and down stream. When it was completed and ready to launch, and the skids in place, Ledbetter took a bottle of whisky and shouted to the crowd that he was "going to baptize the boat". As the boat slipped into the water he broke the bottle on the bow and shouted "The Choctawhatchee Hornet" amid the applause of the settlers present". When he returned from Pensacola with his first load of supplies he went up the Little Choctawhatchee to the Hollis bridge where many of the early settlers met it to get salt, coffee and other supplies. After operating the Hornet for a few years he disposed of it and hauled his supplies from the Chattahoochee. On January 3, 1841 the Alabama Legislature declared "the west prong of the Choctawhatchee river from its mouth lo John Ard's Mills, in the coun- ty of Dale" to be a "public highway". Anyone found guilty of obstructing navigation with mill dams or fishtraps could be fined $1,000- the State to receive one half, and one half to any person who might sue for the same "recoverable before any court of law having jurisdiction". On August 4, 1841 the name of the block house post office was changed to Saw Mill with John Ard as Postmaster. One traveler and observer in 1827 described the river and river banks as follows: "The banks and every sunken log in the river, are covered, most of the year with a profusion of wild flowers; turtles and water- snakes, are scarcely less numerous". In early February, 1838, Captain Jeremiah Pate informed Governor Bagby by letter that a group of marauding Indians had robbed Captain Bright's boat as it was coming up the "Choctawhatchee River". Among items taken-were 5 kegs of powder 1 barrel of sugar, a quantity of whiskey and some blankets. From Newspaper files of Harold Stephens. Typed & submitted by Christine G. Thacker. Permission to post any Southern Star article or pictures given by Mr Joseph Adams, Owner, April 23, 2004. Additional Comments: Not sure of the date , so will put 1983. This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb