Grab a Paddle: Exploring with the CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER USER'S GUIDE

Running almost the full length of the state of Georgia, the Chattahoochee River is not only the longest river in Georgia, but as Joe Cook puts it, Georgia's "most important, most celebrated, and most fought over body of water." Though the Chattahoochee provides much of Georgia with water, energy, and sanitation, it provides beauty, peace, and activities to all who choose to visit its waters. It begins as a trickle in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, and quickly grows, traveling south past Atlanta and following the Georgia-Alabama state line all the way to the Florida border.

Shoals Near White Creek, White County. Photo by Joe Cook.
From The Chattahoochee River User's Guide, 2014.

The Chattahoochee River is not only known for its natural majesty, but also its diverse wildlife. In the Georgia River Network Guidebooks, the CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER USER'S GUIDE explains just how vast its biodiversity is:

[I]t gives life to an incredible variety of aquatic animals, including 104 fish species, 24 species of aquatic turtles, 37 species of salamanders and sirens, about 30 species of frogs and toads, and, historically, as many as 45 species of freshwater mussels (Cook 2).

Along with information of the Chattahoochee's many plants and animals, the waterproof CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER USER'S GUIDE follows the river mile by mile, giving travelers a riverside tour guide on their voyage down the river's winding path. This excerpt from the book describes a mile near Alaga, AL:

MILE 403.3 (31.083554, -85.025357) Kirkland Creek. A 0.2-mile journey up this tributary on river left leads you to a beautiful "blue hole"—a spring issuing forth clear, cold water from the Upper Floridan aquifer. This vast underground "lake" provides much of the irrigation water used for agriculture in southwest Georgia, the bread basket of the state. Excessive pumping from this aquifer that feeds south Georgia waterways, especially the Flint River to the east, threatens adequate flows and endangered species—and has exacerbated water conflicts with Florida.

Blue Hole at Kirkland County Creek, Early County. Photo by Joe Cook.
From The Chattahoochee River User's Guide, 2014.

Fishing, baseball, and literature

It's almost summer time again, which means it's time to get involved with some classic American pastimes like fishing and baseball. We at the UGA Press are happy to help you get into the season with some quality literature and some of the latest news.

Fishing

One classic way to get into summer is to find a good spot for fishing, whether professional or not. Anglers in the Offshore World Championship last month started early as they set a new record for most billfish catches in 2014 with 2,314. If you are interested in learning more about billfish, we suggest picking up a copy of THE BILLFISH STORY.

In THE BILLFISH STORY, Stan Ulanski tells the saga of this unique group of fish and those who have formed bonds with them—relationships forged by anglers, biologists, charter-boat captains, and conservationists through their pursuit, study, and protection of these species. More than simply reciting important discoveries, Stan Ulanski argues passionately that billfish occupy a position of unique importance in our culture as a nexus linking natural and human history. Ulanski, both a scientist and an angler, brings a rich background to the subject in a multifaceted approach that will enrich not only readers’ appreciation of billfish but the whole of the natural world.

Baseball 

Do you have any Atlanta Braves players on your fantasy baseball team? While the Braves have had a slow start this season, they are now leading the National League-East after a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs this past Sunday. The Braves may be the best known baseball team in Georgia, but it certainly is not the first.

Tim Darnell tells of the early years of Georgia baseball in his book THE CRACKERS: THE EARLY DAYS OF ATLANTA BASEBALL. Beginning in an era before traffic jams, air-conditioning, and Atlanta’s ascension to international fame, Tim Darnell chronicles the emergence of amateur and minor-league baseball in various forms in Atlanta from just after the Civil War through the rise of the Crackers (1901–65). Through never-before-published player interviews, rare illustrations, extensive appendices of charts and statistics, a Cracker Trivia Quiz, and thorough research, Darnell examines the drama and politics that affected the Crackers over the years. Also profiled is the Black Crackers, Atlanta’s Negro Southern League franchise whose success and popularity paralleled those of their white counterparts. The Crackers is a light-hearted, fun, and engrossing history of a time, a people, and one very special centerfield magnolia tree whose stories are legend to this day.

Play Ball: Baseball in Atlanta

“Before the Braves, the Crackers were our team.”—President Jimmy Carter

Today we have a guest post by award-winning journalist Tim Darnell.


With the recent Hollywood blockbuster film “42,” it’s easy to forget that, 64 years ago, another racial barrier was smashed in Atlanta.

Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey’s Brooklyn Dodgers came to Atlanta in April 1949 to play a three-game exhibition series against the Atlanta Crackers. Rickey, the owner and GM of the Dodgers, and Earl Mann, owner and GM of the Crackers, were close friends, and both arranged the contest.

If the games went off, it would mark the first time in Atlanta history that blacks and whites would compete against each other in a professional sporting contest. The Ku Klux Klan, however, had other ideas.

Here’s an excerpt from THE CRACKERS: EARLY DAYS OF ATLANTA BASEBALL, that describes the event:

“The Klan’s Grand Dragon called Dad, threatening him if Robinson played here,” recalls Oreon Mann. “My father rarely ever angry, but, Lord, when he did … Well, after telling this Grand Dragon where to go, he called (then-police chief) Herbert Jenkins.

“The Klan called later again at the park, and Jenkins happened to be standing there when the call came in. Dad told the Grand Dragon that he was going to put Jenkins on the line, and told him to repeat his threats to the Atlanta police chief.

“We never heard from that Grand Dragon again.”


Learn more about this historic event in Atlanta history in Tim Darnell's THE CRACKERS: EARLY DAYS OF ATLANTA BASEBALL. Beginning in an era before traffic jams, air-conditioning, and Atlanta’s ascension to international fame, Tim Darnell chronicles the emergence of amateur and minor-league baseball in various forms in Atlanta from just after the Civil War through the rise of the Crackers (1901–65). THE CRACKERS is a light-hearted, fun, and engrossing history of a time, a people, and one very special centerfield magnolia tree whose stories are legend to this day.

“There has always been something very magical about the early days of minor-league baseball, and Darnell makes that magic come alive.”—Jim Huber, CNN/Sports Illustrated

Tim Darnell has written for numerous Atlanta sports and political publications. He is also the author of 101 Atlanta Sports Legends and The Georgia Tech Trivia Book.