Georgia Natural Wonder #28 - Wolf/Butler/Rhetts Islands - McIntosh Co. (Part 1). 1015

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #28 - The Barrier Islands of McIntosh County. (Part 1) - Wolf - Butler - Rhetts

OK – back to the Atlantic Ocean for today’s ocean leg of the back and forth mountains ocean theme this week. It’s very confusing listing these islands because so many sites have so many different islands listed as barrier islands of Georgia. What’s funny is that some of the islands ban you by law to step foot on the island. So here we have some more top natural wonders of the state, most of us will never see. We already talked about the main island of McIntosh County, Sapelo Island, as GNW #24.



What we didn’t do is tangent on another interesting McIntosh in Georgia history. We talked about Chief William McIntosh the other day, and how he got his liver cut out. Today we talk about Lachlan McIntosh, a member of a prominent eighteenth-century Scottish Highland family that was among the earliest settlers of the Georgia colony. He played an important role in the cause of American independence. He distinguished himself in a career that evolved over three critical periods in the state's early history — from colonial to revolutionary to statehood. McIntosh County, on the Georgia coast, was named in honor of his family.



McIntosh arrived in Georgia from Scotland at eight years of age, part of a group of Scots settlers led by his father, John McIntosh Mohr, who established the town of Darien in 1736. The second oldest town in Georgia? The young McIntosh came of age in a time of almost constant warfare as the Darien Scots helped defend the Georgia colony in England's commercial war with Spain, which lasted from 1739-48. When his father was captured by the Spanish and imprisoned in 1740, McIntosh lived at Bethesda, the orphanage near Savannah under the direction of the Reverend George Whitefield. Two years later he left Bethesda on orders from General James Oglethorpe to serve as a cadet in the military regiment at Fort Frederica. It was Oglethorpe who convinced McIntosh and his brother William that their future lay in Georgia after they attempted to return to Scotland to join the rebellion led by "Bonnie Prince Charlie."



In 1748 the twenty-one-year-old McIntosh established residence in Charles Town (modern-day Charleston), where he was employed by South Carolina merchant Henry Laurens, the individual who played the most influential role in guiding McIntosh's business career. Laurens was also a leading player in Georgia's movement toward independence. In 1756 McIntosh married Sarah Threadcraft of South Carolina. McIntosh then returned to Georgia, where he acquired acreage in the Altamaha River delta, planted rice in partnership with Laurens, and in 1767 surveyed the town of Darien established by his forebears thirty years earlier.



By 1770 McIntosh had solidified his political sympathies with the American protest movement. This was exemplified in January 1775 when he helped organize delegates to the Provincial Congress from the Darien District of St. Andrew Parish. McIntosh served during the Revolutionary War (1775-83), and by January 1776 he had been appointed to the command of the Georgia Battalion with the rank of colonel. He organized the defense of Savannah and repelled a British assault at the Battle of the Rice Boats in the Savannah River.



Promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental army, McIntosh laid plans for the defense of Georgia's southern flank from British incursions from Florida. He became embroiled in a political dispute with Button Gwinnett, who wanted the command of the Georgia forces and was resentful of McIntosh's success and advancement. The animosity between McIntosh and Gwinnett came to a head on May 16, 1777, when both men were wounded in a pistol duel in Sir James Wright's pasture outside Savannah.



McIntosh recovered, but Gwinnett died of his wound three days later. Although McIntosh was acquitted at the ensuing trial, feelings among Gwinnett's supporters ran so high that McIntosh was forced to leave Georgia.


You know, McIntosh shot him in the arm, he wasn’t suppose to die.

He served with General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in the difficult winter of 1778, then was assigned to the important command of the Western Department. (Link shows little brother killed by alligator on Altamaha River)





With Washington's support, McIntosh was entrusted with leading an expedition against Britain's Indian allies in the Ohio Valley. McIntosh established two forts, Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh, which helped solidify American control of the Northwest after the Revolution.



The Treaty of Fort McIntosh was signed at Fort McIntosh (present Beaver, Pennsylvania) on January 21, 1785.





It was a treaty between the United States government and representatives of the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa nations of Native Americans.





After returning to Georgia in 1779, McIntosh helped organize the unsuccessful attempt to retake Savannah from the British in October. Then, in the spring of 1780, again with a major command, he was taken prisoner during the failed effort to defend Charles Town. McIntosh was relieved of duty by the Continental Congress but was later cleared of all charges. Despite financial losses due to the war, McIntosh returned to his planting and business activities near Savannah. He was an organizer of the Georgia Society of the Cincinnati, a delegate to the Continental Congress from Georgia in 1784, and a commissioner representing his state during the settling of the boundary dispute between Georgia and South Carolina in 1787. He died on February 20, 1806, shortly before his eightieth birthday.



Moving from south to north, we find these other Islands of McIntosh County.

Broughton Island

Henry Laurens has been frequently cited by historians as one of the few citizens in the lower South who expressed opposition to slavery in America as early as the 1770s. He owned four South Carolina plantations, two Georgia plantations (Broughton Island and New Hope), tracts of undeveloped land in both colonies, and town lots in Charleston. Laurens was planting Broughton Island in 1767 in rice and hemp. The earnings from his mercantile and planting interests made Laurens one of the wealthiest men in America. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Laurens succeeded John Hancock as President of the Congress.



He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and President of the Continental Congress when the Articles were passed on November 15, 1777. Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading house in North America, Austin and Laurens. In the 1750s alone, this Charleston firm oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 enslaved Africans.



Upon the death of Henry Laurens, Broughton Island was purchased in whole or in part by William Brailsford. Broughton Island Plantation was devastated (along with the loss of more than 70 slaves drowned) by a Category 4 hurricane that struck the Georgia coast in 1804.



Considering the low-lying Broughton Island Plantation to be unsafe, Brailsford moved to the newly acquired property situated on higher ground.



There, he built a substantial two-story house, changed the name to “Broadfield,” and set about rebuilding his seriously depleted fortune.



This is today’s Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation.



There is evidently wild boar hunting on this mostly marsh and undeveloped Broughton island.
   


Come visit us in Brunswick Georgia for your Hog Hunt of a lifetime! We will travel to Historical Broughton Island by boat down the Altamaha River, which lays south of Darien, nestled between the countless coastal Georgia Islands. There we will hunt the Rice Fields, Sand Dunes, and Needle Grass for your Trophy Boar of a Lifetime!!! Hunting here at Broughton Island Boars isn't only a Way of Life, it's our Heritage!!



Rockdedundy Island

Another undeveloped marsh island is Rockdedundy Island west of Wolf Island. The only information I can find is taking soil samples in a lower estuary tidal creek and marsh site at the island. Bet there are some wild boars here too.



Wolf Island

Our first outer barrier island in McIntosh County is Wolf Island NWR, located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Darien, Georgia in McIntosh County, was established on April 3, 1930 to provide protection and habitat for migratory birds. The barrier island refuge consists of Wolf Island and two smaller islands, Egg and Little Egg. Over 75% of the refuge's 5,126 acres are composed of saltwater marsh. Wolf Island NWR was designated a National Wilderness Area in 1975 and is maintained as such, with its primary purpose being to provide protection for migratory birds and such endangered and threatened species as the loggerhead sea turtle and piping plover. Due to its status as a wilderness area, no public use facilities are planned on the refuge. Though the refuge's salt waters are open to a variety of recreational activities such as fishing and crabbing, all beach, marsh, and upland areas are closed to the public.



The NWR act provides for an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man. It is an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation.



You can see some beautiful things on breath taking Wolf Island GA such as big nests hanging to trees, variety of birds and extensive fields. You can see a lot of things on Wolf Island but only from a boat at a distance.



The Red Knot is the largest of the "peeps" in North America, and one of the most colorful. It makes one of the longest yearly migrations of any bird, travelling over 9,000 miles from its Arctic breeding grounds to Tierra del Fuego in southern South America. The rufa subspecies of the red knot migrates along the east coast and makes stops at Wolf Island NWR during both spring and fall migrations. In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the rufa red knot as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.



A large, boldly patterned bird, the American Oystercatcher is conspicuous along ocean shores and salt marshes. True to its name, it is specialized in feeding on bivalves (oysters, clams, and mussels) and uses its brightly colored bill to get at them.



A small pale shorebird of open sandy beaches and alkali flats, the Piping Plover is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as inland in the northern Great Plains. These small, stocky shorebirds have a sand-colored upper body, a white underside, and orange legs. In the fall, plovers migrate south and winter along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico or other southern locations.



Fishing is another activity people love to do at Wolf Island GA. After you are permitted for fishing, you can go to the water surrounding the island where you can find plenty of different types of fish ranging from Muskellunge, Walleye, pike to Small Mouth Bass.



Whether you want to go for one day or stay overnight, this island is not going lose its charm.



You can frequently have a look at some snowy owls. Not only can you find amazing and unique animals and birds but the rare plants and trees can catch your sight that you might never have seen anywhere else throughout your entire life.



The only way to reach Wolf Island is by boat. Due to the limited amount of uplands the refuge is closed to allow wildlife to use these areas undisturbed. Visitors must make their own arrangements to reach the saltwater areas of the refuge. Marinas in the Darien, Georgia area may offer such transportation. It is evidently look (boat around) but don’t touch (land your boat and walk around)

Butler Island

Butler Island is the site of a noted plantation one mile south of Darien, Georgia. Located in the coastal marshes formed by the mouth of the Altamaha River, the island is now part of the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area. It is open to the public daily and features plantation ruins, historical markers, walking trails and is a great place for heritage and eco-tourism adventures. The Butler Island Plantation dates its history back to the 1790s when Major Pierce Butler first began to plant its lands. An officer of the American Revolution, Butler was one of the men who drafted the U.S. Constitution. He fought against the British alongside such noted officers as Francis Marion, Nathaniel Greene and Thomas Sumter.



He sold of his South Carolina lands following the death of his wife in 1790 and invested heavily in two plantations on the Sea Islands of Georgia. One of these was on St. Simons Island and the other was on Butler Island. Described as "eccentric" by those who knew him, he was a leader in the Georgia rice industry. The delta of the Altamaha River and its vast marshlands were ideal for the production of rice and his plantation became one of the most successful rice farms in Georgia. The earliest rice mills used "green" power provided by the tides to turn the millstones.


Captain Pierce Mease Butler.

When Major Butler died in 1822, the Butler Island Plantation passed to his grandson, Captain Pierce Butler. He was married to the noted English actress and writer Fanny Kemble. When he finally took over the plantation from his grandfather's estate, Captain Butler took his wife and family there for the winter of 1838-1839. The results were probably not what the plantation owner had in mind. Fannie Kemble became a major advocate for the slaves on the plantation, complaining repeatedly to her husband about the living conditions of the slaves on the farm as well as about their treatment by his manager, Roswell King, Jr. Her experiences at Butler Island during the winter of 1838-1839 led her to develop strong opinions in favor of the abolition of slavery. Roswell later founded town of Roswell with his son, Barrington.



Tensions increased between the actress and her plantation-owner husband and he threatened to deny her access to their daughters if she wrote and published her views about plantation-life and slavery. They were divorced in 1847 and in 1863 - after her daughters were grown - Kemble published her Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839. At the time of its publication, Great Britain was thought to be considering the possibility of intervening in the War Between the States (or Civil War) on behalf of the South. The book is credited by many with ending any possibility of such an alliance.



A steam-powered rice mill was built on Butler Island in 1850 and operated until the war. Its 75-foot chimney towers over the island today and is its major landmark. Other ruins can be seen around it. Captain Pierce Butler lost most of his huge fortune during the 1850s and managed to save his Georgia plantations only by selling off 439 of his slaves in 1859. The auction, held near Savannah, was the largest in American history.



Attempts were made after the war to return the plantation to profitability using hired labor, but it never regained its former success. It was run for a time by a daughter of Pierce Butler and Fannie Kemble, author Frances Butler Leigh. She later defended her father in the book Ten Years on a Georgian Plantation since the War, a publication that was a rebuttal of her mother's earlier book. A third noted writer associated with Butler Island was Owen Wister, a grandson of Captain Pierce Buter. He wrote the popular western novel, The Virginian and often visited the island.



The large white home still seen on Butler Island today was built in 1927 by Col. Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston, half-owner of the New York Yankees. He hosted many professional baseball players there, among them Babe Ruth.




Hutson far left.

Butler Island today is part of the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area. It is open to the public daily and is accessed from U.S. 17 one mile south of Darien, Georgia. It is free to visit. In addition to its historic sites, it is a major waterfowl area and features observation towers, waterfowl impoundments and an information kiosk.



The area around Butler Island is also famed as the haunt of the Altamaha-ha. A massive sea monster or river monster, it has been seen since at least 1826 in the Altamaha River area.



Rhetts Island

Rhetts Island is a tidewater island with several diked impoundments consisting of about 1,200 acres in the Altamaha River delta. It was one of the original rice plantations that dominated coastal Georgia in the 19th century. Giant cutgrass is the dominant vegetation that buffers the dikes from surrounding Darien and Altamaha rivers. Widgeon grass is commonly found in the ditches that surround the interior of the dikes. Inside the impoundments are grasses and other plants consistent with brackish water marshes that now occupy the old rice fields. Some of the old fields associated with other islands (Butler, Champney, General's) at this site are seasonally drained and planted with grains and then flooded in the fall to provide winter food for the migratory waterfowl that arrive here in late fall by the thousands.





Rhetts Island has no vehicle access. Visitors may reach the island by boat. Access points exist around the perimeter of the island where boats may be pulled up and over the dike for access into the impoundment. During late fall and winter, Rhetts Island is home to an amazing number of wintering waterfowl. Gadwalls, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, canvasbacks, redheads, ring-necked ducks, scaups, coots, and many others are found in the impoundment.



Bald eagles are frequently seen during all seasons of the year.



Osprey are very common and can always be seen. Other wading birds such as great blue herons, wood stork, white ibis, American egrets, great white herons, and clapper rails are all common in the area.



Canada geese and snow geese are sometimes seen during the late fall and winter.



Rhetts Island is home to a sizeable population of American alligators which may be observed basking in the sun on the dikes. Manatees frequent the Altamaha River area during the summer and can sometimes be seen feeding on emergent vegetation along the river's edge. Otters may also be observed playing in and around the island. Wildlife viewing is excellent all year at this site. There is an open waterfowl hunting season on a portion of the area, but there are separate viewing areas. LOL comments on duck hunting sites say it was muddy and crowded and the grass wasn’t high enough to hide from the ducks.



Primitive camp sites are available. A map of the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area may be obtained from the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR). Persons wishing to visit Rhetts Island who are unfamiliar with the area should talk to one of the DNR staff familiar with the area before attempting to visit. At low tide it may be difficult to reach the surrounding dikes from the Altamaha or Darien Rivers as the access points may be without water.

Black Island

Black Island is a tidal island located just East of Darien, Georgia. It currently has a private gated residential community that is surrounded by native woodlands and marshes. The island was once used as a lookout for Fort King George. Later it was used as a hunting preserve for R. J. Reynolds, Jr., who lived at a mansion on Sapelo Island.


Fort King George restored.

OK this is getting too big for one post. Got to research some islands I may have missed. Not fair to lump all these islands into one Natural Wonder. Gameday tomorrow. Go Dogs! Will finish Islands of McIntosh County as Georgia Natural Wonder #29 on Sunday. Our GNW today is a Wild Hog!


Added two more Hawg killers.