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Pearl River
Between Nanih Waiya and the Gulf, the Pearl River Basin contains a wealth of historical and legendary tradition. Traces of civilizations dating back to 400 B. C. have been found in the southern part of the river near Mulatto Bayou. While the lower Pearl River abounds with romantic tales of river boat pirates and bad men, legend proclaims the great spirit told the Choctaw Indians to make their home along the banks of the upper portion of what they called “Rock River”.
European civilization came to this region in the 1600’s with the Spanish and French explorers. The French explorer d’Iberville renamed the river Pearl after he and his men discovered pearls at the mouth of the river in 1698. The French recognized the Pearl as a potentially important transportation route for settlers and in 1732 had the river explored and mapped. This helped open the entire basin to European settlers. The original survey is still preserved today in the French Archives in Paris.
One of the settlers was a French Canadian named Louis LeFleur who came to the Pearl River in 1792. LeFleur established a trading post in an area that would later become Mississippi’s capital city, Jackson.
The river continued to attract settlers and in 1816 a group of territorial leaders met to draft a petition to allow Mississippi to join the Union. The site of the meeting called the Pearl River Convention, was the John Ford Home, located south of Columbia near Sandy Hook. This pioneer home remains in its historical setting and has gained its rightful place in Mississippi history.
Mississippi was awarded statehood in 1817 and a search for a state capital ensued. LeFleur’s Trading Post was the most attractive site because of its central location, nearness to the Natchez Trace, and the availability of a navigable stream - the Pearl River.
Before the river became a highway of commerce and transportation, it was a route into the wilderness. It opened the way for settlers to move in and to cultivate the fertile bottom lands. With the onset of agricultural and commercial development, the Pearl served as a water highway to transport tremendous harvests of virgin pine and hardwood timber. Steamboats were common sights as far up river as Edinburg, bringing supplies to the settlers and returning with marketable cargo.
Steamboats and keelboats were limited to seasonal travel because of low water levels during the summer months. The river was also narrow and crooked and contained innumerable snags and tree trunks. These conditions and the development of railroads eventually brought an end to the steamboat era.
