"God willing and the Creek don't rise."

Our creek almost spilling over it's banks ~ literally 15' higher than normal.

'God willing and the Creek don't rise'.  It is argued that this remark was first said by Benjamin Hawkins. Hawkins was a college educated and well-written man who lived from 1796 ~ 1810. Some argue that he made a grammatical error with the capitalization of Creek. However, it is said that he wrote it in response to a request from the President to return to our Nation's Capital and the reference is not to a creek, but The Creek Indian Nation. If the Creek "rose", Hawkins would have to be present to quell the rebellion. Since that time many historians have tried to find the origin of the phrase but without concrete evidence of it being said or written by Mr. Hawkins. It, like most sayings, has been passed down through the generations as a cute folkism with many interpretations. I was muttering it yesterday morning when I woke to find our gentle creek raging and swollen with the run off of our recent storms. I always thought it was another way of saying that no matter what, an obstacle could be conquered. Kind of like saying, "Come Hell or high water ..." perhaps both of these sayings were different interpretations of the same phrase, uttered back in the mid 19th century. I will have to add it the the ever growing list I have to ask God someday.