Etowah River

The Etowah River is a 164-mile-long (264 km)[1] waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta.

The Etowah then flows west-southwest through Canton, Georgia, and soon forms Lake Allatoona.

From the dam at the lake, it passes Cartersville and the Etowah Indian Mounds archaeological site.

The river is the northernmost portion of the Etowah-Coosa-Alabama-Mobile Waterway, stretching from the mountains of north Georgia to Mobile Bay in Alabama.

The fictional character, who is reviled by respectable people but apparently dies a hero while saving a child's life, is alternately known as the "Etowah River Swamp Rat" in the song.