Topography and Migration, Obion County, Tennessee

Area and Topography

County area is about 560 square miles, 1/3 hilly, 2/3 rolling and level.
Thirty-six acres once under Reelfoot Lake, Lake has receded , acreage isn't available.

Migration

First settlers arrived in wagon trains. They cut trees, built rafts and floated their wagons across the Tennessee River. Flatboat travel via the Cumberland-Ohio-Mississippi and up the Obion River was impossible because the mouth of the and logs. Some settlers came across Kentucky and settled near or on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Border Counties

On the north by Fulton County, Kentucky
On the east by Weakley County, Tennessee
On the south by Gibson and Dyer Counties, Tennessee
On the west by the Mississippi River until Lake County was formed in 1870

Border Cities

Fulton and South Fulton on the Kentucky-Tennessee Border
Kenton on the Obion-Gibson County Line
Trimble in Dyer County abuts and may cross over the southern border of Obion County.

Indian Mounds and Artifacts

Mounds at the Turnpike in Obion County and other artifacts indicate that the Chickasaw and Indians hunted the area because of the good water source and a natural salt lake ground.

Tennessee Delta

100-mile stretch between the Mississippi River flowing south and the Tennessee River flowing north. The head waters of the Obion, Forked Deer, and Hatchie rivers are a short distance from the Tennessee River and flow west into the Mississippi.

Western Gateway

Obion and Lake Counties became a gateway to Missouri and Arkansas.
Border State searches could possibly locate a missing link.