![]() |
Owl |
We saw a small group of schoolchildren and several adults with cameras. We watched a 12-minute movie about the Refuge and walked among the Cypress Trees.
![]() | ||
Sandhill Cranes
|
We stopped at Ingalls Harbor, & Rhodes Ferry Park.
![]() |
Tern Perched on a pole at Ingalls Harbor |
We stopped at Wheeler Dam where we saw hundreds of Terns diving for fish. We also saw hundreds of Terns perched along the entrance to the locks and hundreds of Cormorants perched below the dam. It was a beautiful day for an outing.
![]() |
At Rhodes Ferry Park we saw the train lift bridge that once bridged Lauderdale to Colbert County Alabama. |
![]() |
At Wheeler Dam, we saw Terns diving into the Swift Tennessee River |
![]() |
The Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroad was the only railway line in the country used to transport the Cherokee people during forced removal. |
On this river in front of you, 2,300 Cherokee people arrived in waves, forced from their Tennessee Valley homeland from 1837 to 1838. The steamer Knoxville towed flatboats loaded with Cherokee families. Heavy rains soaked their clothes. The cold wind whipped off the water. They survived on cornmeal and flour fried in bacon grease. Once docked here at Decatur Landing, the Cherokee boarded cramped train cars. Their journey west continued along the rails.