Buttahatchee River
The Buttahatchee River is a tributary of the Tombigbee River, about 125 miles (201 km) long,[2] in northwestern Alabama and northeastern Mississippi in the United States. Via the Tombigbee River, it is part of the watershed of the Mobile River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
| Buttahatchee River | |
|---|---|
 A bridge crossing of the Buttahatchee River in Monroe County, Mississippi | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama, Mississippi |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Winston County, Alabama |
| • coordinates | 34°11′13″N 87°37′19″W[1] |
| Mouth | Tombigbee River |
• location | Border between Monroe County and Lowndes County, Mississippi |
• coordinates | 33°39′2″N 88°30′49″W[1] |
| Length | 75 mi (121 km)[1] |
Course
The Buttahatchee River rises in northwestern Winston County, Alabama, near the town of Delmar, and flows generally westward through Marion County, where it collects a short tributary, the West Branch Buttahatchee River. At Hamilton, the river turns to the southwest and flows through Lamar County, Alabama and Monroe County, Mississippi; its lower reach is used to define part of the boundary between Monroe and Lowndes counties. The Buttahatchee joins the Tombigbee near Columbus Air Force Base, 12 mi (19 km) north-northwest of Columbus.[3]
Name
The name "Buttahatchee" is Choctaw for "sumac river", from bati, "sumac", and hahcha, "river".[4]
The Board on Geographic Names settled on "Buttahatchee River" as the river's official name and spelling in 1947. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Buttahatchee River has also been known as:[1]
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References
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Buttahatchee River
- "The National Map". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved Feb 25, 2011.
- Course info in part from: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer, Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme, 1998 ISBN 0-89933-274-9; and Mississippi Atlas & Gazetteer, Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme, 1998 ISBN 0-89933-346-X
- Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 11 April 2011.