Bayou

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This article is about a water landform. For other uses, see Bayou (disambiguation)

Big Cypress Bayou in Jefferson, Texas off of U.S. Route 59.

A bayou at the Sabine River at the Louisiana rest stop.

A bayou (pronounced [ˈbaɪ oʊ] or [ˈbaɪ uː]) is a small, slow-moving stream or creek, or a lake or pool (bayou lake) that lies in an abandoned channel of a stream. Bayous are usually located in relatively flat, low-lying areas, for example in the Mississippi River delta region of the southern United States. A bayou is frequently a slackwater anabranch or minor braid of a braided channel, that is moving with less velocity than the mainstem. Many bayous are the home of crawfish, certain species of shrimp, other shellfish and catfish.

The word was first used by the French in Louisiana and is thought to originate from the Choctaw word bayuk which means "small stream". The first settlements of Acadians in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Ecores which led to a close association of the bayou with Cajun culture.

Bayou Country is most closely associated with Cajun (Acadian French) and Creole (mixed French, African, and Native American) cultural groups native to the Gulf Coast region generally stretching from Houston, Texas to Mobile, Alabama with its center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An alternate spelling "buyou" is also used as in the ["Pine Buyou"] in the territory Arkansas. This was stated in the Journal of The House of Representatives of The United States being the first session of the 23rd Congress begun and held at the City of Washington Dec. 2, 1833 and in the 58th year of the Independence of the United States.

Houston, Texas is known as the "Bayou City", primarily because of the expansive, muddy, miles-long Buffalo Bayou that twists and turns its way through the fourth largest city in the United States. Other major bayous in Houston include Brays Bayou, Sims Bayou, White Oak Bayou, and Greens Bayou.

Bayous are many times the set of horror movies as bayous are commonly seen as quite spooky and mysterious. With the trees and unknown creatures that lurk in the murky waters, it creates a sense of suspense. Some famous horror movies that are associated or take place in the bayou include The Skeleton Key, Hatchet, and The Reaping.