According to the United
States Geological Survey,
Reelfoot Lake was formed when the region subsided during the 1811–1812
New Madrid earthquakes.[1] The
earthquakes resulted in several significant changes in the landforms over
a widespread area, with shocks being felt as far away as Quebec,
Canada. When I read this on the USGS website, I thought about how
much damage such a quake would do today, and how many people it would kill.
Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake located in the
Northwest portion of the state of Tennessee, in Lake and Obion counties.
Much of it is really more of a swamp, with bayou-like ditches (some
natural, some man-made). The bayous connect to more open bodies of water called basins, the largest of which is called Blue Basin. Reelfoot Lake is noted for its bald cypress trees and its nesting pairs of bald eagles. Few people
today know how Reelfoot Lake came to be. Thus, I am writing about it to educate readers on the New Madrid region. It is essential to understand our
history, which is usually interesting, and at times, it is awe-inspiring.
Reelfoot Lake is said to be named after an Indian chief who had a deformed foot and was nicknamed "Reelfoot" by settlers in the early 19th Century. A Chickasaw legend states that the name originated from a prince of a Chickasaw tribe inhabiting West Tennessee, who was born with a deformed foot and walked with a rolling motion. So, he was nicknamed Kolpin, meaning Reelfoot. When he became chief, Reelfoot determined to marry a Choctaw princess, but her father would not permit it. The Great Spirit warned Reelfoot that if he attempted to kidnap the maiden, his village and his people would be destroyed. Reelfoot disobeyed the Spirit, and seized the princess by force and carried her to Chickasaw territory, where he arranged a marriage ceremony.
In the middle of the ceremony, the Great Spirit
stamped his foot in anger, causing the earth to quake, and the Father of the
Waters raised the Mississippi River over its banks, inundating Reelfoot's
homeland. The water flowed into the imprint left by the Spirit's foot, forming
a beautiful lake beneath which Reelfoot, his bride, and his people lie buried.[2] This is just Folk-Lore, but it is a quaint way of explaining something supernatural that we are unable to explain otherwise.
Last week, I included a short excerpt from the journal of Mr. Godfrey Lesieur, an eye-witness to the devastation from the earthquake. This Blog gives another eye-witness account of the earthquake. Eliza Bryan wrote to Rev. Lorenzo Dow, on March 16, 1816, the following:[3]
“Dear Sir, On the 16th of December 1811, at about 2 o’clock A.M., we were visited by a violent shock of an earthquake, accompanied by a very awful noise, resembling loud but distant thunder, but more hoarse, and vibrating, which was followed by a few minutes by the complete saturation of the atmosphere with sulfurous vapor, causing total darkness. The screams of the affrighted inhabitants running to and fro, not knowing where to go or what to do, the cries of the fowls and the beasts of every species, the cracking of trees falling, and the roaring of the Mississippi, the current of which was retrograde for a few minutes, owing, as is supposed, to an eruption in its bed, formed a scene truly terrible. From that time until about sunrise, a number of lighter shocks occurred, at which time one more violent than the first took place, with the same accompaniments, and the terror which had been excited in everyone, and indeed in all animal nature, was now, if possible, doubted. The inhabitants fled in every direction to the country, supposing (if it can be admitted that their minds were exercised at all) that there was less danger from a distance than near the river. In one person, a female [Mrs. Lafont], the alarm was so great that she fainted, and could not be revived."
Eliza Bryan wrote much more on the earthquake, but it will have to be presented in segments over several weeks. You learned today that the Reelfoot Lake was formed directly from the result of the Great New Madrid Earthquake. Next week we will transition from the swamps to Crowley's Ridge. This Ridge extends from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in a wide arc
of over 150 miles down to Helena, Arkansas. The sloping 200 to 500-foot
elevation contrasts sharply with the surrounding delta bottomland.
[2] Wilbur A. Nelson: "Reelfoot — an Earthquake Lake" In National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XLV, January 1962, p. 103.
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