View source for Lake Beulah (Arkansas–Mississippi)

{{Infobox body of water
| name = Lake Beulah
| image = Lake Beulah, Mississippi.jpg
| caption =
| image_bathymetry =
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| location = [[Bolivar County, Mississippi]], [[Desha County, Arkansas]], [[United States]]
| coords = {{Coord|33.7743825|-90.9933731|format=dms|region:US_type:waterbody_source:gnis|display=inline,title}}
| lake_type = [[Oxbow lake]]
| inflow =
| outflow =
| catchment =
| basin_countries = [[United States]]
| length =
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| area = {{convert|1031|acre|ha|abbr=on}}
| depth = between {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| max-depth =
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| shore =
| elevation = {{convert|121|ft|abbr=on}}  at normal pool
| islands =
| cities =
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| pushpin_map_alt         = Location of Lake Beulah in Mississippi, USA.
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'''Lake Beulah''' is an [[oxbow lake]] located in [[Bolivar County, Mississippi]] and [[Desha County, Arkansas]], United States.  The Arkansas-Mississippi border follows the center of the narrow, curving lake.
The town of [[Beulah, Mississippi]] is located on the east shore, where there is a public boat launch.
Duckweed is the predominant aquatic vegetation, and fish include bowfin, bream, buffalo, channel catfish, common carp, crappie, drum, green sunfish, gar and largemouth bass.<ref name="Lake Beulah">{{cite web | title = Lake Beulah | publisher = DeltaWildlife.org | url = http://deltawildlife.org/images/file_downloads/lake-beulah.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,462,612 | accessdate = Sep 2, 2013 | archive-date = December 23, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111223064201/http://deltawildlife.org/images/file_downloads/lake-beulah.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,462,612 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
==History==
Prior to 1863, the [[Mississippi River]] curved east and flowed around the {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} "Beulah Bend".  During the Civil War, soldiers of the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] would move east by foot from nearby [[Napoleon, Arkansas]], and hide in the wooded area west of Beulah Bend, where they would fire at passing [[Union Army]] ships.  The same cannon could be used on ships as they entered, and then left the tight bend.  To avoid this ambush point, Union commander [[Thomas Oliver Selfridge]] ordered a channel dug across the peninsula.  The soft land and strong river current enabled the "Napoleon Channel" to be cut in one day, and in April 1863, Selfridge piloted the [[USS Conestoga (1861)|USS ''Conestoga'']] along the new route.
Cut off from the main flow of the Mississippi River, the ends of Beulah Bend filled in, forming an oxbow lake.
While the Napoleon Channel enabled river traffic to follow a more direct route, the river's new course caused its waters to flow close to the town of Napoleon, then the seat of Desha County.  High waters in 1868 and 1874 destroyed and permanently submerged part of the town, and by 1882, it was no longer shown on river maps.<ref name="Lake Beulah"/><ref>{{cite web | last = Teske | first = Steven | title = Napoleon (Desha County) | publisher = Encyclopedia of Arkansas History | date = March 18, 2013| url = http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=356}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Reitzammer | first = Louis | title = Napoleon Cutoff in Desha County | work = Desha County Historical Society | publisher = Ancestry.com | year = 1985 | url = http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ARDESHA/2000-01/0947648298}}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Lakes of the Mississippi River]]
[[Category:Lakes of Mississippi]]
[[Category:Lakes of Arkansas]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Desha County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Bolivar County, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Oxbow lakes of the United States]]