The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-02-22
A REE1rooT EARTHQUAKE.
Some Tennessee Territory Sliding
into the Lake.

Some Tennessee Territory Sliding
into the Lake.
| Reelfoot lake, a noted body of
water situated along the line which
divides Tennessee from Kentucky,
was formed by the mighty earth
quake which shook the valley of
the lower Mississippi in 1911. Ira
dition has it that during that terri
BILE CONFUSION of nuture, the water
in the Mississippi temporarily
flowed up stream. The course of
the great river was changed for
miles, and Uncertain localities the
entire topography of the country
was changed. Where Reelfoot
is now once stood a heavy forest.
The earthquake caused this land
to sink to the depth of many feet,
and it is now covered with a body
of water nearly forty miles in
length, and more than a mile in
width at certain places. Even to
this day the hunter or fisherman
padding over its pellucid depths
can see far below the tops of trees
which once lowered up into the
blue ether, veritable monarchs of
the forest. So much for the histo-
ry of this remarkable lake. 1t is a
child of the earthquake, and its pa
rent does not seem to have for
gotten it.
About 1:30 on the morning of
the 18th inst, quite a severe
shock of an earthquake was felt all
through this section of the coun-
try. 1t was particularly severe in
the neighborhood of Reelfoot, and
the land in that vicinity commenced
sinking again. A reporter for the
News had the pleasure last evening
of making the acquaintance of Mr..
R. A. Browder of Fulton, who
states that the rumors which have
been current here for several days
concerning terrestrial disturbances
in the locality above described are
true, though the trouble was not as
serious as was thought at first.
Many changes are said to have ia
ken place along the banks of Reel
foot. In Lake county, Tennessee,
a gentleman named Wade, who
lived between the bank and the
hills, lost his entire farm of more
than loo acres. The shock of the
18th awoke both himself and fami-
ly. 1t was so severe that all of..them
fed from the house to the bluffs in
the rear for safety. Only a short
distance from his residence they
came across a huge crack or fissure
in the earth some 10 feet wide.
They had no means of ascertaining
its depth in the darkness, and Mr..
Wade and his sons returned to the
house and secured planks, (which
they threw over it as a temporary
bridge. In the morning the opening
was discovered,to be from Is to 20
feet in depth. The earthquake had
sunk allsthe ground from the lake
shore nearly up to the house, and
also, by a peculiar freak, thrown its
hugh crack quite around the prem
ises, nd swallowed up the road.
With the exception of a little spot
on which the house stands, the
whole Of his farm is now perma-
nently added to the lake and is
covered with water. Between 400
and 500 acres of adjacent lands
are also submerged.
Not far from Mr.. Wade's place,
at the time of the occurrence of the
phenomenon, party of hunters
were encamped. They were awak-
ened by the shock and compelled to
abandon all their camp equipage
and fee precipitately for their lives,
the water came upon them so rapid
ly. They were stopped by the sud
den opening in the ground and hur-
riedly threw a narrow bridge of
fence rails across it. The newly
sunken land lies on the east side of
the lake. The fissure extends for
long distance just at the foot of the
bluffs, and varies considerably in
width and depth. Mr.. Browder
states that it is difficult to obtain
much information concerning the eX
tent of the disaster,owing toIthe ex-
IRENE ignorance Of the people living
in the neighborhood. They are
mostly hunters and fishermen, and
pay but little attention to anything
else. He regards the information
printed above as being authentic,
as it came from a Methodist cler-
gyman, in whose circuit the lake is
situated. News.