Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key Memorial Water Feature - Tuscumbia, AL
Posted by: 
Max and 99
N 34° 43.784 W 087° 42.221
16S E 435576 N 3843297
A fountain placed in honor of Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key, wife of Chief Tuscumbia, after whom the city is named
Waymark Code: WMY7K5
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2018
Views: 0
This water feature honoring Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key is a must-see at night. The jets shoot water over 100 feet in the air, and a multitude of colors are circulated thru the show. There are some benches around the lake, as well as large boulders to sit on and enjoy the view.
Text on marker:
Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key
Memorial Water Feature
Dedicated to the Memory of Im-Mi-Ah-Key
The Wife of Chief Tuscumbia
51 Jets
Center jet shoots water in excess of 100 feet into air
50 jets shoot water 40-50 feet into air
All choreographed to lights and music
21,000 feet of conduit
100,000 feet of wire
According to the Historical Truth website:
It was about this time in the late 1780’s that Chief Tuscumbia married Im Mi, whose full name was Im Mi Ah Key. There was a strict rule among the Chickasaws that a brave had to go outside his home clan to find a wife. It is believed Tuscumbia found his bride in the eastern part of the nation. It was also not
uncommon among the Chickasaws for a brave to have more than one wife at the same time, especially if there were a number of sisters in the bride’s family. Im Mi apparently had no sisters therefore, from all accounts; she remained Chief Tuscumbia’s only wife as long as he lived.
The Chickasaw marriage came about after the brave declared his matrimonial intentions by sending the young lady a small present. “If she accepted the gift,” they were considered engaged.
The marriage ceremony was a gala event in the village and quite different from the traditions brought into the land by the white settlers. James Adair, who lived among the Chickasaws, described the proceedings as follows:
When Michael Dickson and his family landed at Muscle Shoals in 1815, they found Chief Tuscumbia and Im Mi to be an amiable couple. Dickson was able to persuade the chief to sell him the site of the City of Tuscumbia, plus all the land between the Big Spring and Tuscumbia Mountain to the South, and all the land to the Tennessee River on the North, for the amazing price of five dollars and two pole axes. This became known as “the Tomahawk Claim.” After the Federal Government acquired “the groom divides an ear of corn in two pieces before witnesses.
He keeps one of the pieces and presents his bride with the other half. After accepting the corn, or sometimes a deer’s foot, the bride then proceeds to present her new husband with some cakes
of bread that she has prepared for the marriage occasion”
About Chief Tuscumbia:
(
visit link)