Remember When: Bear Creek bridge and gator memories

By Guest Columnist Mary Jane Boutwell

What brings on a thought and/or conversation? Almost every time I cross Bear Creek Bridge on Highway 22 going into Canton, I remember the alligator the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries trapped there. 

Talking with a neighbor by Catlet Road, I was told Uncle Fred was taking him fishing on a pond nearby. As they fished, the youngster saw an alligator. 

Uncle Fred said, “That’s okay. He won’t hurt you.” 

Later, perhaps a year or more, as the alligator had grown, it was seen walking east on the highway. As time passed, an alligator was seen in several ponds, always headed east. 
When the grown alligator was seen in Bear Creek, he was caught. He was too close to a dense population. They could see the alligator in the creek, as there were a few trees and little undergrowth. Now, it is hard to catch a glimpse of the water. 

A group of young men went fishing over at the reservoir with plans to tent camp on a sandbar. 

The fishing was first. It was so late when fishing and supper were over that they did not raise the tent. They just slept on the sand.

During the night, noises kept the young men sleeping lightly, tossing and turning. As breakfast was cooking, several wondered. They saw tracks from the water, across the sand, through the sleepers, across the tent, and off the other side. Sounds like the alligators were friendly, since their stomachs were full.

Back to Bear Creek - almost every time I cross the bridge, I look to the south and feel sorrow, a loss. In my much younger years, we crossed Bear Creek carrying fresh milk in five- and ten-gallon milk cartons to the creamery. There were two or three sway-back bridges, and the longer style concrete and metal ones across the creek. 

The sorrow is from the historical fact that it was the first of its type to be torn down. There are still road beds over there. 

It is gone. Just like the turn bridge on the Yazoo River in Belzoni. 

Where the Dollar General store is on Highway 22 was a Civil War campground. George Heindl told of finding artifacts there as he roamed the countryside as a boy. Before the store, it was a city sewage lagoon that replaced the dumping of raw sewage into the creek. 

Please, if you can add to, correct, refute, or in any way add to the comments I make, please let me know. I have received permission to tell you. You may leave a note for me at Kylie Melons. 
Thanks.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Jane Boutwell is a passionate historian and is thrilled to share stories about way back when.