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 
