Cocke Trails

A memoir of growing up in South Georgia and how the Satilla River shaped the life of the author. Cocke Trails recounts four love stories between author James Cocke, his wife, his children, his friends, and the river. The Satilla starts in middle Georgia near Fitzgerald, and travels southeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean just south of Brunswick, Georgia. It was named for a Spanish officer, Saint Illa, which in true Southern fashion got recast in the local dialect as 'Satilla'. This black water system drains over 3000 square miles of coastal plains habitat traveling about 260 miles from start to finish. When Cocke had to move away from Ware County in search of a living, he stated, "I will miss my friends and the Satilla River." Thirty years later, he still feels that way: "Now that I am almost too old to climb into a jon boat, memories are all that is left. And they are fading like the early morning steam and fog, drifting away as the early morning sun rises and the river keeps slowly and methodically flowing toward the coast."