Томбигби өзені: тарихы, географиясы және трагедиясы

The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U. S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The Tombigbee watershed encompasses much of the rural coastal plain of western Alabama and northeastern Mississippi, flowing generally southward. The river provides one of the principal routes of commercial navigation in the southern United States, as it is navigable along much of its length through locks and connected in its upper reaches to the Tennessee River via the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. The name "Tombigbee" comes from Choctaw /itumbi ikbi/, meaning "box maker, coffin maker", from /itumbi/, "box, coffin", and /ikbi/, "maker". The river formed the eastern boundary of the historical Choctaw lands, from the 17th century when they coalesced as a people, to the forced Indian Removal by the United States in the 1830s.

The river begins in northeastern Mississippi just south of the Pharr Mounds near the northern county line of Itawamba County, at what was once known as the source of the east fork of the river. Historically, the beginning of the river was in northern Monroe County at the confluence of Town Creek (also known as West Fork Tombigbee River) and the east fork of the river. The river flows east through Aberdeen Lake near Aberdeen, and Columbus Lake near Columbus. It flows through Aliceville Lake on the Mississippi Alabama border, then generally SSE across western Alabama in a highly meandering course, past Gainesville and Demopolis. There it is joined from the northeast by the Black Warrior River. South of Demopolis it flows generally south across southwestern Alabama (forming Sumter and Choctaw counties' borders with Marengo County). Past Jackson it joins the Alabama River from the north on the Mobile Baldwin county line, approximately 30 mi (50 km) north of Mobile; this confluence forms the Mobile River.

On April 28, 1979, a tugboat named M/V Cahaba was on the Tombigbee near Demopolis, Alabama trying to guide two coal barges under a flooded side span of the old Rooster Bridge (removed years later), but the flood current was too strong. The tug and barges approached the drawbridge section, which failed to re open fast enough while the river was near flood stage (drawbridges must close and re open to allow waiting traffic to cross). The fast currents pinned the Cahaba's starboard side against the bridge in high waters. The force was so great that it pulled the boat downward, tilting it beneath the bridge, and fully submerging it in the river. One of the two main ventilator funnels had tilted to the center, yet one engine was still running, and the captain steered to anchor the tugboat in a flooded cornfield. Another downstream tugboat, M/V Tallapoosa, rescued the captain and all three crew members; with the pilot, then secured the two barges of coal. The barges were later towed to Mobile by the same company's towboat M/V Mauvilla. The Mauvilla is otherwise notable for its later involvement in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck. and James T. Staples. The "Tombigbee River Waltz" or the singing song "Tombigbee River" are beloved old time waltzes performed by fiddlers including James Bryan, Kenny Jackson, Jay Ungar and Eric Hatling. The song was featured as a Charles Ingalls song in the Little House books.