joins the river near the Big Spring community, and Wildcat Creek, which empties into the river near Sparta, and is noted for its waterfall visible from Highway 70 east of the town. Tributaries that enter river's western bank include Plum Creek and Cherry Creek, near the Yankeetown community, and Mill Creek, near the river's headwaters. History According to Goodspeed's History of White County, the Calfkiller River is likely named after a Cherokee chief who lived in the valley when the first European-American settlers arrived in the area around 1800, following the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the early 19th century, they harnessed the river to power numerous small gristmills. In the years before the Civil War, an iron works and a cotton mill operated along the banks of the river in the vicinity of the current TN-111 bridge. A number of Civil War skirmishes were fought along the Calfkiller River. On August 9, 1863, Union forces under Charles Minty attacked a Confederate scouting detachment under George Dibrell near Wildcat Creek, eventually scattering the Rebels after intense fighting. Another skirmish occurred on November 30 of that year, when a band of Confederate guerrillas unsuccessfully ambushed a detachment of the U.S. First Tennessee Cavalry at Yankeetown. On February 22, 1864, a band of Confederates under John Hughes attacked a detachment of the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry along the river, in what became known as the "Battle of Dug Hill." Hughes reportedly captured and executed over a dozen federals. Confederate guerrilla leader Champ Ferguson, who lived in the Calfkiller Valley, is buried in France Cemetery, along the banks of the river near the Putnam-White county line. In 1902, the Sparta Light and Power Company built a small waterwheel-powered electric plant just downstream from Sparta. After this plant burned in 1907, it was replaced by a more modern plant that used a concrete dam to divert water through a flume to a powerhouse located downstream. The plant operated until the 1930s, when the Tennessee Valley Authority began providing electricity to the area from major hydroelectric projects. The dam is still visible from the TN-111 bridge, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See also Calfkiller Brewing Company - Sparta-based microbrewery named after the river Falling Water River List of rivers of Tennessee References External links Rivers of Tennessee Rivers of White County, Tennessee Rivers of Putnam County, Tennessee Rivers of Van Buren