Editing Telfair County, Georgia (section)

==History==
[[Image:Chevronbeads.jpg|thumb|left|85px|Modern example of chevron beads]]
Archaeologists associated with Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History have excavated a {{convert|2000|acre|km2|adj=on}} plot near [[McRae-Helena, Georgia|McRae-Helena]] and approximately a mile from the [[Ocmulgee River]], beginning in 2005. In 2009 they announced finding evidence of a [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] settlement dating to the first half of the 16th century.<ref name="scidaily">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105084838.htm|title=Archaeologists Track Infamous Conquistador Through Southeast|journal=Science Daily|access-date =November 9, 2009}}</ref> The archaeologists originally believed that the artifacts may have come from a settlement founded by Spanish leader [[Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón]] from Hispaniola in 1526 and briefly occupied by hundreds of colonists. The group encountered hard conditions and fewer than 200 survived to return to Hispaniola.<ref>Davis, Mark, "What Lies Beneath," ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' December 17, 2007, p. C1</ref>

Additional research suggests that the site instead was one visited in 1541 by the [[Hernando de Soto|de Soto Expedition]]. Researchers have recovered [[Murano beads|Murano glass beads]], made in [[Venice]], [[Italy]], and brought by the Spanish for trading with Native Americans; [[pottery]] fragments, and [[iron]] weapons. Some of the beads bear a [[Chevron bead|chevron]] pattern. Such beads have been identified as a hallmark of the de Soto expedition, due to the limited period of time in which they were produced. Excavations have also produced six metal objects, including three iron tools and a silver pendant.<ref name="Pousner, Howard 2009">[http://www.ajc.com/news/local/fernbank-archaeologist-confident-has-found-soto-site/UqwBX5G2I1pB8aYfMXADeM/ Pousner, Howard, "Fernbank archaeologist confident he has found de Soto site"], ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', November 6, 2009; updated February 2, 2010</ref>

The site is further west than scholars had earlier believed that the de Soto expedition had traveled, based on documentation from his expedition. This was the first evidence found of his expedition between [[Tallahassee, Florida]], where excavations have revealed artifacts of his expedition, and western North Carolina<ref name="scidaily"/> where another site has been found.

{{Blockquote|What we have now is the best-documented collection of Spanish artifacts in Georgia; many are unique, and they are the only examples of certain artifacts ever found outside Florida.|Archaeologist [[Dennis Blanton]], 2009<ref name="Pousner, Howard 2009"/>}}

This site is believed to have been a Native American community, occupied from the end of the 15th century through the first decades of the 16th century. At that time, they had neither glass nor metal goods.<ref name="Pousner, Howard 2009"/> Blanton presented a paper on his findings on November 5, 2009, at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in [[Mobile, Alabama]].<ref name="scidaily"/>

The historic [[Creek people]] occupied much of this area of Georgia. Telfair County was established by European Americans on December 10, 1807, as part of Georgia. Development of the county largely took place after [[Indian Removal]] in the 1830s of the [[Creek Confederacy]], who had occupied a large territory, including the southern two thirds of present-day Georgia, for thousands of years. They were removed to [[Indian Territory]] west of the Mississippi River, in today's Oklahoma. The county is named for [[Edward Telfair]], the sixteenth [[List of governors of Georgia|governor of Georgia]] and a member of the [[Continental Congress]].<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/t.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917143007/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/t.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 2003 |url-status=live| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=223 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

Many of the first European-American settlers were Scottish immigrants and Scots-Irish migrants who traveled down the backcountry from Pennsylvania and Virginia.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA239 | title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States | publisher=Routledge | date=May 13, 2013 | access-date=November 30, 2013 | author=Hellmann, Paul T. | pages=239| isbn=978-1135948597 }}</ref>

=== World Record Largemouth Bass ===
The world record largemouth according to the [[International Game Fish Association|IGFA]] is shared by Manabu Kurita and George W. Perry. Kurita's bass was caught from [[Lake Biwa]] in Japan on July 2, 2009, and weighed 10.12 kilograms (22 lb 5 oz). Perry's bass was caught on June 2, 1932, from Montgomery Lake in Georgia and weighed 10.09 kilograms (22 lb 4 oz). Montgomery Lake is not a true lake but an oxbow off the [[Ocmulgee River]] in between [[Lumber City, Georgia]] and [[Jacksonville, Georgia]].