Withlacoochee River (Florida)

During the Second Seminole War, Seminole chief Osceola founded a camp of fellow Seminole and escaped slaves called the Cove of the Withlacoochee. On December 31, 1835, the Battle of Withlacoochee was fought at the cove. It was one of the first engagements of the war. In the 1890s, logs, stumps, and other debris were removed from the river to facilitate the travel of barges carrying phosphate to Port Inglis. Phosphate continued to move along the river this way until WWI, when shipping lanes were closed, and then by the early 1930s, the phosphate deposits were completely depleted. == Etymology ==

"Withlacoochee" probably stems from a Muskhogean dialect, which suggests that its application is comparatively recent. It is compounded of Creek we (water), thlako (big), and chee (little), or little big water. This word combination signifies little river in the Creek language, and as we-lako or wethlako may also refer to a lake, it may signify a river of lakes, or lake river. An alternate etymology holds that Withlacoochee is a Native American word meaning "crooked river", which accurately describes the river as it makes its journey from the Green Swamp in northern Polk County to the Gulf of Mexico at Yankeetown. == List of crossings ==