Rubby's Hog Craul, The Peck Mill, Eureka, Bigby Fork, and Nettleton

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The Monroe County Discussion group (of which I am a member) has been recently having fun discussing where Bigby Fork is located. Some thought Bigby Fork was in Itawamba County; others thought Bigby Fork was in Lee County; and still others thought Bigby Fork was in Monroe County.

Turns out Bigby Fork is probably in all three counties --- as Bigby Fork is a region rather than a specific site such as Eureka, Peck's Mill, or Rubby's Hog Craul.

Dr. William Evans in Mother Monroe establishes that in early Monroe County, Bigby Fork was one of the voting precincts. Evans states that Bigby Fork was "located between Town Creek and the main stem of the Tombigbee."

Evans attempts to identify Bigby Fork as "that part of Monroe County lying west of the Tombigbee river and north of Town Creek." Because the general region includes portions of all three counties, Monroe, Itawamba, and Lee, "greater" Bigby Fork might be considered as located in all three.

On page 58, however, Evans establishes the "only Indian village within the limits of present Monroe County" was at Bigby Fork at a site near the current town of Nettleton. And the American name for the Chickasaw town was "Rubby's Hog Craul" (Evans, page 60).

Rubby's Hog Crawl, Bigby Fork, Nettleton --- Lost Corner --- and Eureka! The Peck Mill was in there somewhere too. So was the river crossing called Coulter's Ferry.

Nettleton was named for a railroad investor. Before Nettleton there was a little village called Eureka --- and earlier there was The Peck Mill. But before all of these European/American names, there was a Chickasaw Village the early Americans called Rubby's Hog Craul.

Someone please take pity on this lost pilgrim and send a map pinpointing where these historic sites are located. Now, do you begin to understand why I rarely write about west-of-the-river locations in Monroe County?

Perhaps when I figure out these locations, I'll attempt to find Lost Corner.

SOURCES:

Evans, W.A. Mother Monroe. Hamilton, Mississippi: Mother Monroe Publishing Company. 1979.

Monroe County Discussion Group (Mary Anna Riggan, Jerry Harlow, Judy Sullivan, Rita Thompson, Lori Thornton, Bob Franks, James Alverson, Terry Thornton); exchange of emails October 10, 2009.