The Sunflower River (also known as the Big Sunflower River) is one of the main tributaries of the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river primarily in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the Ame ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. . The Sunflower follows an old channel of the Mississippi River as it winds between farms, neighborhoods, wetlands and abandoned sharecropper shacks. It is navigable by barge for 50 miles. It rises in

DeSoto County, Mississippi DeSoto County is a county - located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,314, making it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Hernando. DeSoto C ...

near the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

border and flows south for 100 miles to the Yazoo River, a major tributary of the Mississippi River. At Clarksdale, the county seat of Coahoma County, the annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is held. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

maintains a navigation channel, thirty miles in length. Built in 1976, the channel is used by barges and pleasure craft. According to the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

, variant names include Hushpuckaman Creek. The

Hushpuckena River Hushpuckena River is a stream in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is a tributary of the Sunflower River, splitting off just north of Mississippi Highway 32's bridge over the Sunflower near the Mississippi State Penitentiary, flowing through the ...

drains the northwestern part of the Sunflower River Basin, Quiver River drains the northeastern portion, and

Bogue Phalia Bogue Phalia is a stream in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is a tributary to the Big Sunflower River. ''Bogue Phalia'' is a name derived from the Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous peop ...

drains the west central portion of the watershed, all of which lies in the alluvium soil of the Yazoo Delta. At

Sunflower, Mississippi Sunflower is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The population was 1,159 at the 2010 census. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States census, there were 964 people, 424 households, and 278 families residing in the town. 2 ...

, the river flow measures approximately 1,099 cubic feet per second.

Water quality

Like the Yazoo, this river is silt laden. The river collects mud from runoff in the bayous and small streams that feed it. The river has a distinct "Clear-Mud Line" where it meets the Yazoo, showing that the Big Sunflower is muddier than the Yazoo at their confluence.

Archaeology

Early investigators of Native American culture identified many mound sites along the river. With what is now known of the cultures in the Southeast, scholars believe these earthwork mounds to have been built by cultures that existed before the emergence of the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples. Clarence B. Moore conducted notable studies of the earthworks on the river near Holly Bluff, about a half a mile from the entrance to Lake George.

Wildlife refuges

Land use along the river and in the watershed is predominantly agricultural, with many large-scale, industrial-style farms. From the antebellum period into the 20th century, cotton was the major commodity crop. Three forested areas have been designated as national wildlife refuges, the

Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge The Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge is one of seven refuges in the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex and is a National Wildlife Refuge located on Bogue Phalia near Darlove, Mississippi. The Refuge was named after Hol ...

, the

Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge is located southwest of Cleveland, Mississippi, and east of the settlement of Dahomy. It was established in 1990 when the Nature Conservancy (TNC) purchased and leased the land back to the United States Fish ...

, and the Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge; all are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In August 2023 the largest state alligator of record was killed in the river.AP staff (30 August 2023). "Longest alligator in Mississippi history captured by hunters"
AP website
Retrieved 20 October 2023.

References

Rivers of Mississippi Landforms of DeSoto County, Mississippi Landforms of Sunflower County, Mississippi Landforms of Coahoma County, Mississippi Landforms of Bolivar County, Mississippi Landforms of Yazoo County, Mississippi {{Mississippi-river-stub

Water quality

Archaeology

Wildlife refuges

See also

References