The Scotts, Catfish, and the Mississippi Delta

The Delta is all sky and level lands that never fall beyond the horizon in any direction, for the high riding clouds are tumbled down behind the bayou cypresses. Delta sunsets bring the whole land into a blaze that quiver the brownish light of fire to every object until the grayness of dusk moves in. F. Smith

When Mississippi natives think of the Delta, they do not refer to the true Mississippi River delta, where the river meets the sea, but where the low-lying flood plain of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers intersect. The Delta stretches over eighty miles wide and two hundred miles long between Memphis and Vicksburg. Historian Richard Schweid wrote: "It is one of those places that has gone its own way, with its own character, its own culture." Formerly know for its cotton, today catfish farming is the main cash crop of the Delta. Catfish farmers in the Delta raise more catfish than any other region in the world.

Close to Drew in Sunflower County, tucked away off Highway 49, in the flat, never ending fields of the Delta, dwells Ed and Edna Scott's catfish farm. Pond Fresh Catfish consisted of eight ponds he created himself. Scott said of his land, "My father came here from Alabama in 1919 with $950 he saved up. He worked as a sharecropper for about four years, then he went and rented some land and stayed there a while, and then he bought 101 acres. He would buy one piece of land, then another. When he died, the family owned 1,900 acres."

Ed and Edna Scott

Currently in the Delta there are over 335,000 acres of ponds devoted to the catfish market. Out of those 335,000 acres, African Americans only own about 200 of them. "Pond Fresh Catfish" was the only African American owned catfish processing plant in the United States. Ed Scott remarked "the banks won't lend money to a black farmer who wants to get into catfish."

Pond Fresh Catfish, which has now gone out of business, had a company cafeteria under the control of Edna Scott who served meals to eighty-five workers a day. Typically, she made fresh sweet potatoes, turnip greens, and catfish fried in her secret batter. In the Delta, catfish always provided a source of protein. Catfish has provided nourishment for poor residents of the Delta while serving as a form of income for many people.

Pond Fresh Catfish
Edna's Original Seafood Mix

Ingredients ö yellow corn meal, garlic salt, red pepper, and other spices
Conventional directions ö Have (fish) or other seafood damp. Roll in mix and fry or ball fry at 375 degrees or bake 450 degrees.
Microwave ö Roll fish in mix. Give each piece 8 minutes. Four minutes per side.

Suddenly a wagon rumbles up out of the darkness, dripping water. The driver jumps down from his seat, lights two or three lanterns, and in a loud sing-song cries his wares:

"De catfish man is here. De catfish man is here. Bolivar Lake Catfish. Spoonbill cats from Bolivar Lake. An' channels fum de river."

At the sound of his voice he is surrounded by a crowd. The catfish man brings out his scales and does a flourishing business. A mass of people press closely around him, clamoring to be served, fearful that all the fish will be sold before their turn comes. Negroes and discerning whites know that the catfish is one of the most delicious of God's gifts to man. The fish-seller, busied with making change, weighing fish, and putting strings through their gills so that they can be dragged along by his customers, bursts in a song:

"I got yellow cat and the white cat, got everything but the tom cat, and he's on the inside. If you believe I'm lying Buy one and try him. Take him home and then you fry him.

David L.Cohn
God Shakes Creation, 1935

[INTRODUCTION] [FISH FRIES]