Alapaha River
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The Alapaha River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 18, 2011
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in southern
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and northern
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
in the
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. It is a
tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River or Swanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the Southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrog ...
, which flows to the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
.


History

The
Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...
expedition narrative records mention a "Yupaha" village they encountered after they left Apalachee, "the sound of which is suggestive of the Alapaha, a tributary of the Suwanee." Another reference to a village of "Atapaha" "so closely resembles Alapaha that it is reasonable to suppose they are the same, and that the town was on the river of that name." John Reed Swanton's landmark ''Indian Tribes of North America'' places the Indian village of Alapaha near where the Alapaha River met the Suwanee, and also noted that an Indian village of " Arapaja" was 70 leagues from
St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
, probably on the Alapaha River. The Spanish mission of Santa María de Los Angeles de Arapaha was located along the lower reaches of the river from before 1630 until 1656. In the 1840s a German travel writer, Friedrich Gerstäcker wrote a
dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...
called ''Alapaha, or the Renegades of the Border'', giving the name to a noble Cherokee "squaw." A translation of this novel was published in the 1870s as #67 in a series of American narratives published by Beadle. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, the swamps along the Alapaha River in Berrien, Irwin, and Echols counties became a refuge for a number of gangs of Confederate deserters.


Course

The Alapaha River rises in southeastern
Dooly County, Georgia Dooly County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,208. The county seat is Vienna. The county was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on May 15, 182 ...
, and flows generally southeastwardly through or along the boundaries of Crisp, Wilcox,
Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...
, Ben Hill,
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,
Tift Tift may refer to: Places *Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States People with the given name * Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter People with the surname * Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portra ...
, Berrien, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes and Echols Counties in Georgia, and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
County in Florida, where it flows into the Suwannee River 10 miles (16 km) southwest of
Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
. Along its course it passes the Georgia towns of Pitts,
Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...
, Alapaha, Willacoochee, Lakeland, and Statenville. Near Willacoochee, Georgia, the Alapaha collects the
Willacoochee River The Willacoochee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 tributary of the Alapaha River in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Via the Alap ...
. In Florida, it collects the
Alapahoochee River The Alapahoochee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 tributary of the Alapaha River in Georgia and Florida in the United States. Via the Alapaha ...
and the short Little Alapaha River, which rises in Echols County, Georgia, and flows southwestward.


Intermittent river

The Alapaha River is an
intermittent river Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years. Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the Earth's surface. The extent of tempora ...
for part of its course. During periods of low volume, the river disappears underground and becomes a
subterranean river A subterranean river (also known as an underground river) is a river or watercourse that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground, one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow ...
. At approximately downstream from Jennings, Florida the Dead River enters the Alapaha River. It is a usually dry river bed with a number of sinkholes, including the Dead River Sink. During periods of low water flow, the Alapaha River downstream from the confluence of the Dead River and the Alapaha River flows upstream into the Dead River. A few more miles downstream is a second sinkhole variously known as the Alapaha River Sink, Suck Hole, or the Devil's Den on the western bank of the river. At the latter point during the periods of low water flow, the Alapaha River disappears underground leaving a dry bank for much of the remainder of its course. The Alapaha River later reappears at the Alapaha River Rise, which is about a half mile upstream from the confluence of the Alapaha River and the Suwannee River (). During a period of low rainfall over of the riverbed can be dry as the river goes underground.


Variant names

The United States Board of Geographic Names settled on the "Alapaha River" as the stream's name in 1891. According to the
Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...
, it has also been known as:


Crossings


References


External links


Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
*
DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...
(2003). ''Georgia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . * *
Underground: The Alapaha River as an Intermittent River
{{authority control Rivers of Florida Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state) Rivers of Dooly County, Georgia Rivers of Crisp County, Georgia Rivers of Wilcox County, Georgia Rivers of Turner County, Georgia Rivers of Ben Hill County, Georgia Rivers of Irwin County, Georgia Rivers of Tift County, Georgia Rivers of Berrien County, Georgia Rivers of Atkinson County, Georgia Rivers of Lanier County, Georgia Rivers of Lowndes County, Georgia Rivers of Echols County, Georgia Bodies of water of Hamilton County, Florida Tributaries of the Suwannee River Subterranean rivers of the United States