ALABAMA AND TOMBIGBEE RIVERS. 23 



ALABAMA RIVER. 



This is the largest and most important of the waterways of Alabama. 

 It is formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, a 

 little southeast of the center of the State. It cuts its way through the 

 rotten limestone and underlying sands of the Cretaceous formation, and 

 farther south through the limestones and marls of the Tertiary forma- 

 tion, flowing not infrequently between the vertical walls of high bluffs 

 formed by the horizontal strata, at other times winding through wide 

 low bottom lands of great fertility. In its lower course toward its 

 confluence with the Tombigbee River it passes through beds of sand 

 and pebbles of more recent formation, and pine-clad hills front its 

 banks, with wide cypress swamps where the banks are almost perpet- 

 ually submerged, or extensive hardwood forests where less subject to 

 overflow. From the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa to the 

 confluence of the Tombigbee with the Alabama, the length of the latter 

 is variously estimated at from 312 to 400 miles. The average depth 

 from Mobile to Claiborne is from 6 to 7 feet, and from Claiborne to 

 Montgomery it varies from 3 to 5 feet. The Alabama River passes 

 through the richest agricultural region of the State, and through the 

 Maritime Pine belt, its great timber region. 



TOMBIGBEE RIVER. 



This river is formed by the confluence of the Little Tombigbee or 

 Upper Tombigbee and the Warrior River in Marengo County, a short 

 distance above Demopolis, and unites with the Alabama River 243 miles 

 south of that place. The course of the river is almost due south, trav- 

 ersing a country rich in agricultural products, its banks often spread- 

 ing out in heavily timbered bottoms. The character of the country 

 traversed is the same as of that crossed by the Alabama River. The 

 Tombigbee River is throughout its course in the State navigable by 

 steamers for nearly the whole year. The numerous feeders of the 

 Little Tombigbee River take their rise on the southwestern rim of the 

 Warrior highlands and among the gravelly hills in the southwestern 

 extension of the watershed of the Tennessee basin. The most impor- 

 tant tributary of the Tombigbee is the Black Warrior River with its 

 two forks, the Locust and the Mulberry, both of which take their rise 

 in the wild ravines of the Warrior table-lands. These forks unite on 

 the dividing line between Walker and Jefferson counties, the river 

 continuing its southwestern course for about 50 miles farther. On 

 reaching Tuscaloosa the Warrior takes a more southerly direction 

 and unites with the Little Tombigbee about 170 miles below Tusca- 

 loosa. According to the late Professor Tuomey the fall of the War- 

 rior River between its source and Tuscaloosa is nearly 1,000 feet, 

 or 5 feet to the mile, and between the latter place and Mobile the 



