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Chief Reelfoot and Laughing Eyes
According to legend, Reelfoot Lake was created when the Great Spirit caused an earthquake to punish Chickasaw Chief Reelfoot for kidnapping Laughing Eyes and making her his wife. Laughing Eye's father had previously rejected Reelfoot's proposal becuase he did not want his daughter marrying a deformed chief; for Reelfoot had a club foot.
These concrete statues of Reelfoot and Laughing Eyes sat at the entrance of Magnolia Beach on the Washout at Lake Reelfoot from 1955 through 1994. They now sit in front of Brooks Shaw's Old County Store in Jackson, Tennessee.
Casey Jones
Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum
On 30 April 1900, railroad engineer Jonathan Luther "Casey" Jones died while trying to stop his passenger train before it collided with a disabled freight train. When they saw the lights of the stopped train's caboose, the fireman jumped and Casey stayed on board to slow the train. Casey failed to avoid a collision but was able to slow the train enough to keep his cars upright and his passengers alive. The IC Railroad's official report blamed Casey for the wreck: claiming that he disregarded the freight train's flagman's warnings of the stopped train ahead. However, other reports suggest that the flagman was in a place in which he could not have been seen in time to avoid a collision. Casey became legend and hero after his friend Wallace Saunders immortalized him in song: The Ballad of Casey Jones.
Casey's home at the time of his death is now a museum with exhibits about Casey and railroads.
