Bayou

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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. Bayous are usually located in low-lying areas, for example in the Mississippi River delta region of the southern United States. 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 Indian) cultural groups native to the Gulf Coast region generally stretching from Houston, Texas to Mobile, Alabama with its center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Houston, Texas is known as the "Bayou City," primarily because of the massive, 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.[1]