river rising in Tippah county, Mississippi, U.S., and flowing 230 miles (370 km) west and then south to join the Yalobusha River just north of Greenwood in Leflore county to form the Yazoo River. The upper section of the river (above the influx of the Yocona and Coldwater rivers) is sometimes called the Little Tallahatchie. Immediately southeast of Sardis, Mississippi, is a dam, constructed in 1940 for flood control. Tallahatchie is probably derived from a Choctaw Indian word meaning “river of rocks.”