It flows W. as far as Selma, then S.W. until, about 45 miles from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee to form the Mobile and Tensas rivers, which discharge into Mobile Bay.
The course of the Alabama is tortuous; its width varies from 200 to 300 yds., its depth from 3 to 7 ft.; its length by the United States Survey is 312 miles, by steamboat measurement, 420 miles.
The river crosses the richest agricultural and timber districts of the state, and railways connect it with the mineral regions of north central Alabama.
The principal tributary of the Alabama is the Cahaba (about 200 miles long), which enters it about 10 miles below Selma. Of the rivers which form the Alabama, the Coosa crosses the mineral region of Alabama, and is navigable for light-draft boats from Rome, Georgia (where it is formed by the junction of the Oostenaula and Etowah rivers), to about 117 miles above Wetumpka (about 102 miles below Rome and 26 miles below Greensport), and from Wetumpka to its junction with the Tallapoosa; the channel of the river has been considerably improved by the Federal government.
The navigation of the Tallapoosa river (which has its source in Paulding county, Georgia, and is about 250 miles long) is prevented by shoals and a 60-ft. fall at Tallassee, a few miles N. of its junction with the Coosa. The Alabama is navigable throughout the year.
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