THE LETTER
President John Quincy Adams charged Brig. Gen. Thomas S Jesup with the reconnaissance of the country between Mobile Bay and Pensacola Bay.
During my six year quest to document the Indian Canal, I now have confirmation from the US Army 1828 report (see attached) that Gulf Shores, Alabama harbors the first Intracoastal Waterway in North America.
Doctor Greg Waselkov, archeologist, University of South Alabama, and Howard Cyr, senior archeologist University of Tennessee, are analyzing data from geoprobes recently obtained from the canal and Indian mound.
In 566 AD, Native Americans engineered the excavation of a one mile long canal from Bay John/Oyster Bay to Little Lagoon as a trade route into much of the southeastern United States.
This heracleion feat of ingenuity and social organization illustrates a public works project with no equal in that time period.
Many thanks to Curry Weber, a recent volunteer to our group, who discovered the attached document.
Thank you also to the City of Gulf Shores and many volunteers who have contributed time effort and funding for documentation of this significant historical project.
Sincerely,
HARRY KING
PROJECT MANAGER
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE SMITHSONIAN
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
