The Singing River
Created | Updated Jun 11, 2005
The Pascagoula River meanders down from the middle part of the state of Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. The river was named after the Pascagoula (which means Bread people) Indians who, along with the Biloxi and Moctobi tribes, lived in cabins on the banks of the river.
On any given day throughout the year, all along the river, you can see fishermen, canoes, people checking crab pots and nets. Shrimpers dock their boats along its banks. The Navy and Coast Guard maintain bases there. Small shipyards and an internationally known shipyard, Litton Industries, use the river to launch ships.
Sounds like a typical ordinary river. And, it is, except that it sings. People say that on quiet summer evenings you can hear what sounds like a low melodic humming.
Legend has it that the Pascagoula Indians were a peaceful tribe who maintained a truce with the more warlike Biloxi Indians, however, marriage between the two tribes was prohibited. The truce was honored generation after generation, until a Pascagoula man met and fell in love with a Biloxi maiden. The Pascagoula Indians knew that the Biloxi Indians would declare war rather than let the marriage take place. Knowing they were no match for the stronger Biloxi tribe, and not wanting to become slaves, the entire village walked into the Pascagoula River, singing a mournful death song.
Of course, scientists have other theories, the type of clay, the shape of the riverbed as it comes to the Gulf of Mexico. They have come to no conclusions yet.
On any given day throughout the year, all along the river, you can see fishermen, canoes, people checking crab pots and nets. Shrimpers dock their boats along its banks. The Navy and Coast Guard maintain bases there. Small shipyards and an internationally known shipyard, Litton Industries, use the river to launch ships.
Sounds like a typical ordinary river. And, it is, except that it sings. People say that on quiet summer evenings you can hear what sounds like a low melodic humming.
Legend has it that the Pascagoula Indians were a peaceful tribe who maintained a truce with the more warlike Biloxi Indians, however, marriage between the two tribes was prohibited. The truce was honored generation after generation, until a Pascagoula man met and fell in love with a Biloxi maiden. The Pascagoula Indians knew that the Biloxi Indians would declare war rather than let the marriage take place. Knowing they were no match for the stronger Biloxi tribe, and not wanting to become slaves, the entire village walked into the Pascagoula River, singing a mournful death song.
Of course, scientists have other theories, the type of clay, the shape of the riverbed as it comes to the Gulf of Mexico. They have come to no conclusions yet.