TWO CHAMPS MEET 
Having their origin in the blood-red hills of central and 
north central Georgia, a number of smaller streams combine 
to form what the Creek Indians called the Ocmulgee River. 
Farther on toward its mouth it merges its bloody tide with that 
of the Oconee to form the Altamaha, their united floods wind¬ 
ing their way to the sea. Now, darkies in general, particularly 
those living along this river valley, do not obligate themselves 
to observe the names given such, either by the Indians or white 
geographers and surveyors. On the contrary, many of them 
insisted that this muddy river should have been known as the 
“Oaky-Mucky,” and would not desist from the practice of 
calling it just that. There being sufficient reason for meditat¬ 
ing on most things the darkey says and does, let us examine 
to learn if possible if there is not some significance to the name 
thus applied to it. The river swamps as well as the sandhills 
fringing its eastern shores abounded in oak and other hard¬ 
wood. When this old river was on a rampage the washings 
of the red clay hills of central Georgia was released from the 
grip of the surging tide as the impounded waters bided their 
time to regain the channel and continue the journey to the 
sea. The result was a “mucky” deposit which all but denied 
thoroughfare to the average pedestrian. While such deposits 
made quite a contribution to the wealth of ancient Egypt by 
fertilizing the valley of the Nile, they served little purpose on 
the Ocmulgee, but on the contrary promoted the growth of an 
almost impenetrable jungle and an intolerable annoyance to 
fishermen making their way from the hills to the river channel. 
Fishermen had on divers occasions, and covering a period of 
many years, met with a dreadful reptile—diamond-back rat¬ 
tler, of course—in the swamplands along this river. Due to his 
length of years he had become increasingly crafty. Each year 
seemed to render him more aggressive and ill-tempered. It 
appeared that he even sensed the danger of firearms, and 
would permit the passerby to continue on his course when thus 
protected, but if it promised to be a man-to-man encounter, he 
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