Second Chickasaw Bluff at Randolph (1865)

The term Chickasaw Bluff refers to high ground rising about 50 to 200 feet (20–60 m) above the flood plain between Fulton in Lauderdale County, Tennessee and Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee.^[1][2] Composed of eroded Pleistocene loess over Pliocene glacial gravel, they are slide prone.^[1] This elevation is named for the Chickasaw, who by their possession of the elevation impeded French river traffic in the 18th Century. The Chickasaw Bluffs were numbered by rivermen from one to four starting from the north.^[2]

The bluff at Memphis, 1887.

The fourth Chickasaw Bluff was the site of the French Fort Assumption, used as a base against the Chickasaw in the abortive Campaign of 1739. The Chickasaw Bluff secured Memphis from river floods, while a rare shelf of sandstone below provided a secure boat landing, making this the "only site for a commercial mart" between the Ohio River and Vicksburg, Mississippi.^[4] This location was also the meeting place of d'Artaguette, Chicagou and de Vincennes before their ill fated 1736 attack against the Chickasaw.

[edit] Fort Prudhomme

The French Fort Prudhomme, or Prud'homme, was established at one of the Chickasaw Bluffs in 1682. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–87) was a French explorer. In 1682, La Salle led a canoe expedition to explore the Mississippi River basin. The expedition landed to hunt, when one of their members went missing. The armorer Pierre Prudhomme was assumed captured by Chickasaw Indians. La Salle decided to stay and search for the missing member. La Salle had a stockade built and named it Fort Prudhomme, after their lost man. This was the first structure built by the French in Tennessee. Days later, the missing member found his way back.^[5] Prudhomme had lost his way while hunting.^[6] The expedition reached the mouth of the Mississippi River on April 6, 1682.^[5]

The exact location of Fort Prudhomme is unknown. Some historians claim that Fort Prudhomme was built on the first Chickasaw Bluff, in modern day Lauderdale County.^[7][8] The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture suggests that the fort was constructed on the second Chickasaw Bluff near modern day Randolph.^[5][9] Other research mentions the third Chickasaw Bluff as the location of the fort, at the border of modern Tipton and Shelby Counties.^[6][10] Again other sources assume that the fourth Chickasaw Bluff in modern Shelby County at Memphis was the location of Fort Prudhomme.^[11][12]

[edit] See also

• Fort Pillow State Park

[edit] References