Tishomingo Creek Bridge

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Tishoingo Creek Bridge

The end of the main part of the Battle at Brice’s Crossroads centered on a small bridge across Tishomingo Creek. A narrow structure soon became a bottleneck for General Sturgis expeditionary force as horses, wagons, cannon, and men attempted to cross the creek.

The rains of the previous several days had raised the water level of the creek, making it difficult to cross without using the bridge.
A replica of the Tishomingo Creek Bridge, which was located, in June, 1864, about 50 yards north of the present bridge on Highway 370, interprets the rout of the Union troops. Long before Americans fought at this site in a battle of North vs. South, this land was part of the Chickasaw Nation. Tishomingo, whose name derived from the Chickasaw title tishu minko meaning “speaker for the chief” or “assistant chief” in the Chickasaw language, lived near here and was a prominent leader of the Chickasaws in this district.

Tishomingo’s name is still attached to this creek, a town, and a Mississippi county which originally extended from the Tennessee River to with a few miles of here. The tribal capital in the west was also named for him and persists today as Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The tribal legislature also designated Tishomingo to be the warrior on the Chickasaws’ Great Seal.

Tishomingo died in present-day Arkansas about 1840 while assisting tribal members on the Trail of Tears. His grave is unknown, but a quote from an 1841 obituary read: “Although but little known beyond the limits of his nation, yet he was a man that had seen wars and fought battles-stood high among his own people as a brave and good man.”