The Yazoo River

The Yazoo rises in the southern part of western Tennessee and joins the Mississippi at Vicksburg thereby creating an incredibly rich triangle of land---long-staple cotton country---that has had a unique local history setting it apart from the rest of the South. It was the very heart of the old plantation system. It was the very center of the river fighting in the Civil War and Grant Sherman Farragut and Commodore William Porter all campaigned there. It abounds with folk tales and according to W.C. Handy the blues were born there.