On April 3, 1540, Hernando de Soto discovered the Ocmulgee River at or near Abbeville. As the chronicler Biedma wrote, they found a river whose course ran eastward to the sea rather than southward like the others they had passed. The next day, Altamaha Indians brought many canoes, and the army crossed comfortably to their principal town, where they met its chief, Camumo, and the great chief of Ocute from the river above, and there they created a second wooden cross.