Thanks! I hadn't thought about the river. Well do I remember how swift and deadly the Alabama river was back before all the locks and dams were put in and the level of the river rose and calmed. With its obvious swift current, eddies and constant whirlpools appearing and dissapearing all over the place, the Alabama River used to terrify me as a child when we would ride over the old metal Hwy 31 river bridge. Heck, it scared me even when I was older. I can imagine the effort and work it took(and downright guts)to try to cross it back in the 1860s!!
Take care,
Dave