Tennessee's Scenic Hatchie River backwater

On the Scenic Hatchie river, launching your boat can sometimes be an adventure in itself. This ramp is located on Highway 76 in Haywood County on the Hatchie River National Refuge. The main channel of the river is in the background. Only use submerged ramps after becoming extreamly familiar with the location in low water. Even then, do not use a submerged ramp if there is current across it. I know of many humbled sportsmen who have lost vehicles by taking unneccessary chances during such activities.


It is this flooding that has brought life in the form of nutrients to the soil of the floodplain, insuring that remains as fertile today as it has been for a thousand years, even before the days when Native Americans first began living off this land.


It is this same floodwater, however, that has led modern settlers to channelize all of the other rivers and streams in the Lower Mississippi River drainage area. Flooding and human settlement does not mix historically. Chanelization and drainage projects associated with them have greatly reduced property damage, agricultural damage and spared human suffering and loss of life.


The consequence of the march of civilization however, has been the elimination of entire ecosystems. Tennessee's Scenic Hatchie River (Scenic being a protected designation) is among the last of it's kind. It has escaped the fate of all other tributaries in the Lower Mississippi River valley. As such, Tennessee's Scenic Hatchie River and it's hardwood bottom lands remain much as they have been for thousands of years.

Upper Scenic Hatchie River sites

These are some photos I wanted to share. These were taken in the upper Hatchie water shed near the Mississippi state line in Southern Hardeman County. This portion of the watershed features rolling hills primarily in deciduous forests and grazing land. This terrain is very different from that of the lower watershed, where the land is dominantly in cultivation and typically has lower slopes.

I have also included a couple of pictures of the Scenic Hatchie River from Essary Springs in Hardeman County, the first ramp found on the river downstream of the Mississippi state line. The other picture of the river is from the bridge on Wolf Pen Road, also in Hardeman County.

The Scenic Hatchie River is also the site of several engagements between the Union Army and the Confederate Army. In the upper reaches of the Scenic Hatchie River, the most well documented site is the Battlefield of Davis Bridge. More on that later.

Lower Scenic Hatchie River

Pictured here is a historic vessel on the Hatchie river. The vessel has been tentatively identified as a Civil War era steam ship. Dr. Stephen James, a nautical Archeologist with PanAmerican Resources Inc. of Memphis has studied the site along with other State and Federal officials. The State of Tennessee has officially designated the vessel as a registered archeological site. It is protected by Federal Law.

This discovery was made at an unusually low river stage. As a result, the vessel is extreamly well preserved. Fragments of paint were found showing the ship to have been white with a red undercoat.

In March 2008, Dr. Stephen James wrote in a preleminary report :

"...the historic remains are the lower hull of what appears to be a sidewheel steamboat. The main deck and any upperworks (if any originally existed) are no longer extant. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the stern of the vessel lies exposed downstream. The port side of the vessel and the upriver bow are buried under the riverbank, while the starboard side of the vessel is free of all overburden with the exception of the extreme bow area. Covered by approximately five feet of overburden, protruding wooden elements and probing the centerline of the bow area indicate the remains have an overall length of at least 204 feet from the stern to the last positive probe. The vessel has an approximate beam of 34 feet, the distance amidships from the center of the keelson to the chine measuring 17 feet."

Yes, the ship is 204 feet long! Those of us who know the Hatchie river can not imagine a vessel of this size navigating through the bends and curves. However, the development of the interrior of West Tennessee was done almost exclusively through rivers terminating in the Mississippi. The Hatchie is the ONLY Mississippi river tributary below Cario Illinois to remain much as it was when Native Americans first began to explore her waters. More on that later...

Hatchie River T-Shirt

I have recieved a copyright on these images which have been printed onto t-shirts. Leave a comment if you are interested in getting one. The Great Blue Heron is the bird represented in the art work. The Great Blue is a common sight along the river.

The TSRA logo you see stands for the Tennessee Scenic River Association of which I am a member. The Hatchie is the only scenic river in West Tennessee! TSRA has a program called the Adopt-A-River program. I am currently the only river adopter in West Tennessee. I would love to add members to our ranks, as I know how beloved our Hatchie is to all who truly know her!

Watch this site for coming announcements about TWRA grants and Stream Clean-up activities on the entire length of the Hatchie!

Treaty map

Check out this treaty map from 1760! The river near the top of the image is mapped as the "Hogohegee". The note in the bottom right corner identifies the area as being between Lattitude 34 and 36.

There are many on line resources that I have discovered. I hope I can figure out how to share them through this site!

Double click on the map to get a closer look. Once you double click on it you can move around on the document to really see it well. Check it out!

Big Fish

This was one of the hottest days of the year two years ago. Chris and I drug our boat over two beaver dams and through one hundred yards of mud to fish this spot. This bass was caught in less than one foot of water!

This was a great day on the Hatchie!