Ocmulgee National Monument Collections

The Natural History of Ocmulgee Bottoms

Ocmulgee Bottoms is a corridor of the Ocmulgee River Flood Plain in the central region of the State of Georgia that begins at the Fall Line in Macon, GA and continues 38 miles southward to near Hawkinsville, GA. This region is located in Bibb, Twiggs, Houston, Bleckley and Pulaski Counties. The Ocmulgee River’s velocity slows dramatically upon entering the Bottoms and has a serpentine channel. Over the eons, the river here has meandered frequently across the breath of the flood plain, leaving hundreds of ponds and swamps, plus a deep layer of rich, alluvial soil. On top of the alluvial soil is from one to ten feet or red clay that was deposited during the period when cotton was cultivated in the Piedmont, upstream.

The Natural Environment of Ocmulgee Bottoms

Beginning in the late 1500s and continuing through the late 1600s, European maps showed a large lake in central Georgia that received both the Ocmulgee and Oconee River. Its outlet was the Altamaha River, which the French called the May River. The memoirs of the commander of Fort Caroline, René de Laudonnière, wrote in his memoir that several expeditions which he dispatched in a northwestward direction from the fort, encountered a large shallow lake at the headwaters of the May. These expeditions continued northward across the lake in their canoes and then traveled up the Oconee River to the Kingdom of Apalache and then the Appalachian Mountains. No mention is made of the Ocmulgee River by Laudonnière, but it also appeared on later maps of the region, flowing into Lake Tama. Apparently someone, either French or Spanish did canoe northwestward across the shallow lake and travel up the Ocmulgee.

Ocmulgee Bottoms in Recorded History

The Hernando de Soto Expedition, which departed from a Native town in the Florida Panhandle on March 3, 1540, marked a significant exploration of the southeastern United States. Initially encountering the Apalachee, misnamed by contemporary scholars, the expedition navigated through various indigenous territories, including the provinces of Capachequi and Toasi. De Soto’s journey, chronicled by his men, highlighted the diverse and complex societies of the Native American tribes, including those along the Ocmulgee River. Subsequent European expeditions, like those of the French Huguenots in the mid-1560s, further explored these regions. These expeditions, along with the Richard Brigstock Expedition of 1653 and interactions with Carolina traders and during Queen Anne’s War, illustrate the profound impacts of European contact on Native American populations and the ensuing cultural and territorial shifts.

Geography of the Ocmulgee-Altamaha River Basin

Along with the Oconee River, the Ocmulgee River is a major tributary of the Altamaha River System. Although little known outside of Georgia, the Altamaha is the third largest river on the Atlantic Coast. The Ocmulgee is 225 miles long from its beginning in the Georgia Piedmont to its confluence with the Oconee River in Southeast Georgia near Lumber City. The Altamaha continues another 140 miles to the coast at the old colonial port of Darien. The largest tributaries of the Ocmulgee begin on the eastern edge of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. They include the Alcovy, South and Yellow Rivers … Read more

A Fresh Look at Ocmulgee Bottoms

Many of the most fundamental assumptions by the Anthropology profession concerning the Pre-European history of the Lower Southeast were developed during the mid-20th century as a result of a massive, federally-funded excavation of archaeological sites near Macon, GA. While today, anthropologists, museums and the National Park Service present a united front stating that the body of knowledge, which resulted from the Ocmulgee Bottoms studies, was the result of comprehensive analysis, plus well-thought out consensus by some of the most brilliant men of their time, the truth is quite a bit different.