Historic Sites - Reelfoot Lake
07 Reelfoot Lake
- Sunset on beautiful Reelfoot Lake.
Tennessee’s only large naturally-formed lake, Reelfoot was created by the violent New Madrid earthquakes in 1811. Tremors lasted for more than a year and were felt from New Orleans to the Great Lakes. The area is steeped in the legend of Kalopin, or Reelfoot, a Chickasaw prince born with a deformed foot which caused him to walk with a rolling gait. Against the wishes of the Great Spirit, Reelfoot captured a Choctaw princess, Laughing Eyes, for his wife. In anger the Great Spirit stomped his foot, creating a giant crater into which rushed the backwaters of the Mississippi River, flooding the Chickasaw hunting grounds, and destroying Kalopin’s people. The 14,000-acre lake is twenty miles long and up to seven miles wide. Early in this century controversy arose over the private development of the lakeshore, and angry residents resorted to masks, robes, and vigilante terrorism to defend their customary hunting and fishing rights. Troops were called out to suppress the Night Riders and several were brought to trial and convicted. Today the area is a peaceful preserve and features year-round hunting and fishing.
Reelfoot Lake Web Site
Reelfoot Lake Chamber of Commerce,
Tiptonville, TN 38079
(901) 253-8144
