The Nashville Press and Times tells the following;
Persons recently from Reel Foot Lake, in Obion county, West Tennessee, inform us that the assemblage of water fowls at that place is truly marvelous. Several years ago a large and well timbered region, some seven miles long suddenly sank during an earthquake, and the basin immediately filled up with water, forming the present Reel Foot Lake. Almost every species of aquatic bird, great and small, from the tiniest plover to the stately swan, now frequent the spot. Canvas back ducks dance on its surface like great fleets of Lilluptian vessels, wild geese sound their trumpet calls on all sounds, and tall cranes wade lazily about in regiments in search of food. Brants, cormorants, teals, mallards, di-dappers, and snipes darken the air at times with the sweep of their may colored wings. Not unfrequently a magnificent swan, robed in plumes of spotless purity, the very poetry of the wave, floats by the delighted sportsman, and too often falls the victim of his fowling piece. The traffic in these birds is becoming quite an item, and large numbers of them are shipped to Memphis. There is probably not a more attractive spot for fisherman or huntsman in the whole country.
December 29, 1866. A place for hunters. Philadelphia Daily Evening Bulletin 20(226): 3.