It is the twentieth day of January, weeks removed from the Polar Vortex that descended upon our universe by surprise, as I sit underneath the railroad bridge. The Sunflower River looks to flow backwards as the prevalent southern wind blows warm springlike air from the Gulf of Mexico. The Polar Vortex, which was slightly predicted by The Farmer’s Almanac, has seemed to speed up the seasons by forecasting an early spring through the activity of the wildlife along the Sunflower River.
I started my day out reporting to our regular 9 am meeting with the Mighty Quapaw’s to discuss the days challenges only to be reminded by Driftwood Johnnie,
“River, it’s MLK day brother!”
Instead of a meeting, I am blessed with a impromptu ballet performance by our favorite ballerina, 6-year old Emma Lou, featuring the music of Joni Mitchell, while sipping on homemade ginger tea sweetened by local honey.
Leaders of SCLC marching
It seems that I have the day off then, today being a holiday celebrating the work and life of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Clarksdale is an important place in civil rights history for hosting Martin Luther King and the first major meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The Sunflower River saw violence back then, but you wouldn’t know it for all the beauty that exists there. We are honoring the civil rights movement through service on the river all month long. (Find out our plans for caring for it on the Quapaw Canoe Company website here.)
The Sunflower never ceases to amaze me. Flocks of birds are bathing while others forage for seeds along the banks of the river. I’m amazed by the bright red and orange Cardinals. The water had recently receded from the heavy rainfall and snowfall run-off from the northeast and the warm wind has caused patches of grass to germinate. The grass show evidence where common and grass carp have picked clean, taking advantage of the rare winter rise. The other spots look like fresh winter wheat the first week in March. This river is full of carp. I witnessed immense numbers one day this summer as I stood on the bridge waiting on the sunset. The mowers had worked the small buffer zone along the river projecting clippings into the channel. The channels where full of clippings as I watched hundreds of carp rising just underneath the surface inhaling microorganisms by filtering the soup through their mouths. A lone great blue heron stalks the shallows, while a female red tailed hawk patrols the trees attracted by the playful young squirrels practicing their acrobatics. The larger squirrels cling on to the weak branches trying to reach a small yellow pod at the ends of the tree limbs. It looked like the first day of spring.
This place, my favorite place, along the Sunflower River is where I’ve processed tons of information from our adventures on the lower Mississippi River. It’s where I can find a natural place right on the edges of downtown Clarksdale and experience the wonders of the natural world.
I recall the day I witnessed a grey fox scavenging for turtle eggs. It appeared to be foraging with his head down looking for a meal, but immediately stopped in it’s tracks and started to dig with intention, occasionally stopping to sniff as my scent occupied the air. It would look in every direction – but up. I curiously watch wondering what the prize would be. Then suddenly, it buried it’s head so far in the ground and pulled out a small egg. I sat on that bridge for over a hour watching the fox feast on turtle eggs. I counted thirteen total. This observation let me know that the turtles were laying eggs on the muddy banks of the Sunflower River nightly. The next morning I took pictures of the turtle eggs and shared them with the Griot kids.
I decide to jump on my mountain bike and head downstream along the Sunflower River. I pass Red’s Juke Joint, and Red himself is sitting outside his place.
“Where you headed River?” he asks.
“I’m going to check out the weir,” I say.
“Backed by the River, fronted by the grave!” he shouts as I ride by. His response stems from the shared geography of our businesses less than a mile apart, our back yards being the River, the front, in his case a graveyard. It’s his way of showing solidarity, his support of me and the work of the Quapaws. I know how lucky we are to have a man such as him in our town keeping the Blues alive.
Here is a picture of work being done on the Sunflower River weir. Courtesy of Delta Bohemian
The weir is the reason why the Sunflower River upstream is booming with wildlife. The deep pools it creates upstream holds large amounts of fish, which is a major food supply for many predators. It attracts birds of prey as well as scavengers. It makes the downtown channel of the River more spectacular.
As you head downstream from the weir, you encounter beautiful braided channels with islands and peninsulas around every bend. Cypress trees bask in the sun along it’s meandering channel. Large flocks of mallards and wood ducks frequent this area. The shallow water attracts large populations of herons and egrets as well as huge herds of whitetail deer as you get closer to Hopson Plantation. When the water is high, my favorite trip is Quapaw Canoe Company to Hopson Plantation. It’s a nice scenic paddle.
Image of the International Harvester on the Hopson Plantation. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
(Hopson Plantation is an historically important place itself. It was there the first mechanical cotton picker in the world was introduced, the International Harvester, making Hopson the first to grow and harvest a commercial acreage of cotton completely by mechanical methods.)
It’s hard to imagine that this small beautiful river flows through Clarksdale, meandering it’s way 250 miles to Vicksburg where it meets the Mississippi River. Whatever we do to this beautiful river affects the overall health of the Mississippi River. It creates a flourishing environment and habitat for many species of wildlife. It’s an important tributary to Mississippi River and should be treated as such. It’s perfect for canoeing, kayaking , and paddle boarding running right through our city. With this month being “Friends of the Sunflower River” month, we should take the time to enjoy and appreciate our little piece of tranquility and preserve and protect it for generations to come. Get a glimpse of the Sunflower by canoe in this video (be warned there is some grown up language, but also some amazing guitar and singing by John Ruskey.)
Get to know your River!
-Mark River
Mark River Peoples is a guide and teacher with Quapaw Canoe Company and is also the 1 Mississippi Ambassador Southern Region representing the Lower Mississippi River Foundation. You can get on the River too on the Rivergator website or signing up for a guided trip with Mark and the Quapaw Canoe Company.