Obion

The Obion drains the wooded lowlands of northwestern Tennessee. Its several forks run separately for much of their course before joining near the Mississippi River. The name has been understood as an Indigenous word for “many forks”, a fitting description of the river system. This country formed part of the lands claimed and used by the Chickasaw.

In 1818 Chickasaw leaders ceded their claim to the land between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers to the United States. Settlers soon arrived in the Obion country; Elisha Parker came in 1819, followed by others from Virginia and the Carolinas. William Wilson settled near the future site of Troy in 1820, and the town was laid out as a local seat of government in 1825. Davy Crockett was among those present when its site was chosen.