Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness: Recent Episodes
Eddie and Frank Thomas
How would you like to travel along one of the oldest roads in the world? Take two minutes a day and join Eddie and Frank Thomas (authors of the award winning Natchez Trace: a Road Through the Wilderness) as they walk you along a 444 mile journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway. Inspire your weekdays, peek at the beauty of nature, and gather gems of insight as you come to treasure your journey along one of the oldest roads in the world: the Natchez Trace.
"The parkway commemorating the Natchez Trace is a star in the crown of human endeavors. It is a tool of instruction our country can turn to often to gain understanding. There have been many rewards along this journey, a journey that's as much about this country's future as it has been about the past. It offers us time to reflect and realize that the same progress that brought Europeans on board ships to the new lands of the Americas and prompted a new nation to seek convenience along the road to its Natchez frontier, those hopeful steps also drove an ancient people from their homelands.
"And today, we construct mammoth projects, which flow with hope for a grand future, bringing commerce and change to what once seemed a near boundless, flourishing wilderness -- exchanging the order of nature for the order of man.
"The Natchez Trace offers us a picture of change encapsulated within a 450 mile journey through history. It's hopeful, beautiful and at times filled with horror and tragedy.
"You can study it. You can listen to its myriad tales, but nothing compares with a first hand journey up the Trace. So, if you get the chance, I invite you to visit this grand parkway and add your footsteps along "one of the oldest roads in the world," a road through the wilderness.
"I'm Frank Thomas. Thank you for joining me."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"At 4:30 in the afternoon, Saturday June 22, 1996 the National Park Service officially opened the last five miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee. The public along with Vice President Al Gore attended the formal ribbon cutting event near TN Highway 100.
"Following this event there was a parade of antique vehicles to represent each year the Parkway has been under construction. The parade of cars traveled from the Highway 100 terminus down to Highway 96 and assembled for public viewing below the Highway 96 Arch Bridge where there was a concert featuring country music star Amy Grant followed by music from the 101st Airborne Division Military Band.
"During that afternoon beneath the 96 bridge, visitors could see Civil War and frontier-era encampments along with characters dressed in the traditional costumes of Kaintucks and post riders. Throughout the day, prior to the ribbon cutting, hikers, runners and cyclists enjoyed the final section of the parkway making their way down to the events and exhibits below the unique and impressive Highway 96 bridge.
"It was an extremely hot and humid day there near Nashville, but the people gathered to see and be a part of the continuing story of a road that has played such an important role in shaping this great "nation of people."
"Join us next time for the final program in this series when we will complete our journey and take a last look at this outstanding parkway and the people it commemorates. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway is nearing a close as we get closer to Nashville, Tennessee. Today we are crossing Tennessee Highway 96 where we will see evidence that the story of the Natchez Trace isn't over. Today we look at the Parkway bridge across Tennessee Highway 96.
"This modern bridge across highway 96 was opened to the public June 22, 1996. It is the first segmentally constructed arch bridge in the United States -- a double arch bridge. One arch spans the length of nearly 2 football fields (582'). The entire bridge is 1648 feet long and carries the parkway 155 feet above highway 96.
"The bridge's 3 concrete piers were cast where they stand, but the arches and the super structure were cast off site in a plant under controlled conditions. Some of these segments weigh as much as 55 tons and were hauled to the site and lifted into position by a ground mounted crane. In all there are about 122 arch segments and 196 superstructure segments.
"This new approach to bridge building was designed using computer models, and tests were made throughout construction to check and refine engineering and design techniques.
"Join us next time when we will drive the last 5 miles up the Natchez Trace to its NORTHERN TERMINUS. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we are visiting a site called GARRISON CREEK that is just south of Leipers Fork, Tennessee.
"There's a trail used by hikers and horseback riders that connects this site with exhibits at BURNS BRANCH, the OLD TRACE EXHIBIT and the TENNESSEE RIVER DIVIDE along the original Old Natchez Trace and the parkway. All these exhibits pertain to the National Road Era of the Natchez Trace.
"When the old trail first became a national road, the postmaster general wrote the secretary of war asking for the army's help to improve the road. During those days, in 1801 and 1802, the army worked on this section of the road. GARRISON CREEK got its name because the U. S. Soldiers who did the improvements on the NATCHEZ ROAD were garrisoned at this creek.
"Just beyond GARRISON CREEK the Parkway crosses over highway 46 and enters a section of the parkway opened in June of 1993. This is the parkway's high country and the road is very curvy as it winds its way around, in and out of the valleys that are the last steps of our journey.
"Join us next time as we cross the first segmentally constructed arch bridge in the United States at Tennessee Highway 96. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"James Robertson and John Donelson, who lead settlement parties from Fort Patrick Henry to the Salt Lick where the Old Natchez Trace crossed the Cumberland River, are known as the co-founders of Nashville, which was the new name given to Fort Nashborough in 1784.
"Robertson later became known as the 'Father of Tennessee.'
"As a young man Andrew Jackson rode into the town in 1788, and had a great effect upon Nashville, and Tennessee and the building of the new nation along its frontier. His exploits along the Natchez Trace were many. We know of his famous trip down the Trace to marry Rachel Donelson Robards outside of Natchez. She was the daughter of John Donelson who brought the flotilla of boats to the great bend of the Cumberland River. Jackson's plantation home, the Hermitage, is a few miles east of Nashville.
"Nashville has been the capitol of Tennessee since 1843, and though you may know it today as the 'Country Music Capitol of the World' it also carries the nickname of the 'Athens of the South' because of its numerous institutions of higher education plus its many buildings designed in the classical Greek style. There's even a replica of the Parthenon standing in Centennial Park.
"Join us next time when we visit GARRISON CREEK. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"On our Journey up the Natchez Trace we are getting close to what was the destination for many who traveled along this road so many years ago -- Nashville, Tennessee.
"In 1775, at the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, Richard Henderson, a North Carolina businessman, purchased from the Cherokee Indians, lands in the great bend of the Cumberland River. He called this land west of the Appalachian Mountains, Transylvania and advertised for settlers to journey to a site where this old Indian trail joined the Cumberland River; the site of a salt lick, where a much older trading post had been, a site that we know today as Nashville, Tennessee.
"James Robertson and John Donelson were chosen to lead two settlement parties from Fort Patrick Henry in what is now northeastern Tennessee. Robertson lead the men and boys of the party overland with livestock. They arrived at the site of the Big Salt Lick on Christmas Day in 1779 and crossed a frozen Cumberland River to begin building Fort Nashborough.
"Donelson lead a flotilla of boats down the Tennessee River, and up the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers to join Robertson's settlement party on April 24, 1780... their journey was a hard one, troubled by bad weather, disease and hostile Indians.
"Join us on our next program when we will look further at the history of Nashville, Tennessee. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"On our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Nashville we are well up into Tennessee, and today we cross the TENNESSEE VALLEY DIVIDE. We have been riding along the highest elevation on the entire Natchez Trace, which is right at 1000 feet above sea level. The Tennessee Valley Divide is a watershed, part of a ridge that divides central Tennessee. Streams and creeks south of here flow into the Duck River and the Tennessee River, but to the north water flows down to the Cumberland River. It's on the banks of the Cumberland that the City of Nashville was built.
"Early travelers on foot and horseback would have been more conscious of these changes in elevation than we are today riding on a paved road, in motorized and climate controlled vehicles, and they would have noticed the directions that the streams flowed. The reason this watershed was important to travelers was because when Tennessee became a state in 1796, this ridge marked the boundary between the United States and the Chickasaw Indian Nation. This watershed marked the edge of the frontier.
"It was in 1805 that the Chickasaw began to surrender land south of the divide.
"Join us next time when we will take a look at some of the early history of Nashville, Tennessee. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee and today we are west of Columbia, Tennessee at a site called the WATER VALLEY OVERLOOK.
"This exit takes travelers 3 tenths of a mile, high up to a hilltop overlooking a quiet valley. It's a pastoral scene of farmlands, ponds and country roads. There's a picnic table there for those who care to stay for awhile.
"The ten miles or so north of this overlook is the highest section along the entire Natchez Trace. The following RoadMusic® piece titled THE JOURNEY was written to accompany this drive along the parkway.
(PIANO INTERLUDE)
THE JOURNEY
"Join us next time when we will cross the Tennessee Valley Divide. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting the GORDON, HOUSE AND FERRY SITE west of Columbia, Tennessee near the community of Shady Grove.
"At this exhibit is one of the few buildings still remaining from the days of the Old Natchez Trace.
"By treaty George Colbert had been given control over all ferry operations on Chickasaw lands. John Gordon, an Indian scout and friend of Andrew Jackson, made an agreement with Colbert to allow Gordon to operate a trading post and a Ferry across the Duck River beginning in 1802. Though the Duck River wasn't as big as the Tennessee, it was still an obstacle to travelers during the rainy seasons.
"John Gordon was away on military duty much of the time with General Andrew Jackson, and Gordon's wife, Dorothea, oversaw construction of the house that still stands at this site today. It was finished in 1818. John Gordon died a year later, and Dorothea lived there until her death in 1859.
"The GORDON FERRY operated for more than 90 years. The first bridge across the Duck River was built in 1896.
"Join us next time when we will visit WATER VALLEY OVERLOOK and hear another RoadMusic® selection. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting several sites outside of Columbia, Tennessee that pertain to the Duck River.
"At the Jackson Falls exhibit there are two trails. The one to the right is the steeper, a 900 foot trail that takes visitors to a clear pool at the base of the Jackson Waterfalls. These falls were named for Andrew Jackson, a frequent traveler of the Trace between his home in Nashville and the territories of Mississippi and Louisiana. The stream that feeds this water fall is Jackson Branch and flows into the Duck River.
"The other trail at this exhibit is to the left and carries visitors a quarter of a mile to BAKER BLUFF, which overlooks the Duck River. At the Baker Bluff Overlook the park service has placed an exhibit that describes the flow of life giving water, and discusses the need for clean water.
"Join us on our next program when we will get a much closer look at the Duck River and visit the GORDON, HOUSE AND FERRY SITE where early travelers crossed the Duck River. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting a Tobacco Farm exhibit near Columbia, Tennessee where we will ride and walk along the original Old Trace.
"There are two recorded messages at this exhibit that tell how tobacco is grown, cut and dried. Visitors can take a short walk through the field, and the barn built by Mr. Leland Greenfield in 1959. In the summer you can see the tobacco growing and in the fall, see it drying in the barn.
"This section of the parkway parallels the Old Natchez Trace very closely, and from the tobacco farm exhibit it is possible to take a one way ride north along the original Old Trace. This Drive is about a mile and a half long, and only the last half mile of the road is paved.
"For those wanting an even closer look, a mile beyond where the Old Trace Drive reenters the parkway is an exhibit where visitors can take a 15 minute walk along a 2000 foot section of the original Trace that follows a ridge 300 feet above the Duck River.
"Join us next time when we will visit JACKSON FALLS. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting SHEBOSS PLACE near Columbia, Tennessee.
"By comparison to the forced removal of the Cherokee and the Choctaw Indians from the southeastern United States, it must appear the Chickasaw had an easy time of it. Beginning in 1837 some of the Chickasaw traveled west to Oklahoma with Government escort while others took up their lives and traveled at their own expense. By the fall of 1839 the enrollment of Chickasaw in the west was 5,947. Others moved between 1840-47.
"The Chickasaw became a unique culture, establishing their own schools, and courts and legislature based upon the model of the whiteman.
"SHEBOSS PLACE was the location of another of the inns along the Old Trace. According to the agreement with the Chickasaw that allowed travel through their lands these 'Inns' or 'Stands' along the way had to be owned by Indians. The Widow Cranfield ran this inn along with her second husband who was an Indian who spoke very little English. The legend of how the inn got its name tells of travelers coming by asking the Indian about lodging there. He would point to his wife and say, 'SHE BOSS.'
"Join us next time when we visit a TOBACCO FARM. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"HEMONA KA ONAHLÍ TÖK. This is Chickasaw, meaning, 'Once I was there.'
"Today we are in land that belonged to the Chickasaws before the tribe's removal along the "Trail of Tears" in 1837.
"Possibly the worst events of the Indian Removal from the Southeast in the1830s occurred to the Cherokee Indians, removed at bayonet point by the American army in the dead of the winter 1838-39; There were 645 wagons filled with a freezing human cargo. It was so sudden that many were barefoot and without blankets against the cold. 4000 Cherokee died of starvation and exposure and disease along the infamous trail. Today few remember. And when we do, the memory is cloaked with the romantic title THE TRAIL OF TEARS -- Tears without pity -- tears of sorrow and pain and suffering -- tears of loss.
(SONG CLIP PERFORMED HERE)
Never will my spirit ever drift so far away You will not find me in the wind and the silence. You will not think of me each day, And never know my name; But I was there, once I was there, And I walked upon the water.
"Join us next time when we visit Sheboss Place. For Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are just north of the parkway intersection with Tennessee highway 412 at the exhibit, SWAN VALLEY OVERLOOK, where you can get a good look at the terrain in the direction south.
"The change in elevation here along the parkway gives it a different feel. Boatmen and Kaintucks returning from Natchez would have been keenly aware of these hills and valleys and would have sensed their journey along the old road coming to an end. Their thoughts must have turned toward home as we hear in this RoadMusic® selection.
(SONG CLIP PERFORMED HERE)
Words that seem so hard to say, they do come easy, When you are far away. But when our chance arrives, We let our chance go by. This time's the last time I'm giving up all my holding back. I'll say all these things to you, When I get back home.
"On our next program we will look more closely at this land that was once home to the Chickasaw Indian Nation, and we will hear stories of the Indian's forced removal and the 'Trail of Tears.' For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we will look at a couple of exhibits near Swan Valley, where the Natchez Trace Parkway crosses Tennessee highway 412. The first exhibit is PHOSPHATE MINE. A 5 minute walk there takes visitors to a collapsed mine shaft and an abandoned railroad bed.
"This is a region where the limestone has rich deposits of phosphate. There was a lot of mining activity in this area at one time, and there are many abandoned mine shafts like this one.
"Just past PHOSPHATE MINE is a bridge that takes travelers across Big Swan Creek. Beyond the bridge is FALL HOLLOW. A short trail goes over to a waterfall and down to a small pool below. This water is making its way down toward Swan Creek.
"Join us next time when we will climb up out of the valley and visit SWAN VALLEY OVERLOOK. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we are visiting the Meriwether Lewis exhibit and are going to listen to part of Pale Moon Rider, a song written about the danger posed by robbers along this early National Road.
"Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition died here in 1809. In 1848 the state of Tennessee erected a monument at Lewis's grave, which visitors can see at this exhibit. The monument is a broken shaft symbolizing the early death of a promising life. The surrounding County is also called Lewis County.
"To this day there is some question about his death. Was it the suicide of a troubled young man? Or had Lewis, in his post as governor of Louisiana, discovered something about his predecessors, General Wilkinson and associates, that they wouldn't allow him to report to Washington? Too, the Trace was notorious for its criminals and bandits. Was Lewis robbed and murdered?
(SONG CLIP PERFORMED HERE)
Highwaymen are coming. They're on a dead run through the cane break. Hide all the women and the silver and the gold, Highwaymen, on the road. Don't you be fooled by all those fancy clothes, He's a highwayman and he's a rogue.
"Join us next time when we will visit PHOSPHATE MINE. I'm Frank Thomas, Your guide along the Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we visit the location of Grinder's Stand at an exhibit called MERIWETHER LEWIS. Meriwether Lewis was President Thomas Jefferson's personal secretary when the United States made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. Meriwether became leader of the famous LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION and explored trails all the way to the pacific northwest. When Lewis returned, President Jefferson appointed Captain Lewis governor of upper Louisiana, replacing the controversial General James Wilkinson who had convinced President Jefferson to look into charges of treason against his vice president Aaron Burr.
"Meriwether Lewis had his headquarters in St. Louis, and in 1809 he left there headed for Washington to settle some accounts he felt were due him from the government. He traveled down the Mississippi River to Fort Pickering where Lewis and his traveling companions were joined by the U.S. Agent to the Chickasaws, James Neely . They went east through Chickasaw country and crossed the Tennessee River to join the Old Trace heading north.
"On October the 10th, 1809, thunderstorms hit them and Lewis made it into Grinder's Stand ahead of his companions. During that night Lewis was shot. He died as the sun was rising October 11, 1809. He was only 35 years old.
"On our next program we will look further at Lewis's death."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting an exhibit called METAL FORD at the Buffalo River in Tennessee.
"METAL FORD is a point where travelers of the old road waded across the Buffalo River when the water was low. One method of road construction in that era was known as 'metalling', which meant the road was built by placing stones on the surface to help it stand the wear in bad weather. As you can imagine, these road surfaces were hard and rough to travel. The stone bottom of the ford across the Buffalo reminded travelers of 'metaled' roads and so it came to be known as METAL FORD.
"In 1820 this ford was the site of Steele's Ironworks where nearby ore was smelted in a coal burning blast furnace. Air was pumped into the fiery coal to make it burn hotter, and this air-blasting machinery was operated by water taken from the Buffalo River by a channel, known as a millrace. The iron making operations lasted at Metal Ford for more than a hundred years until after World War I when the great depression brought operations there to a close.
"Join us next time when we will hear the story of Meriwether Lewis. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting an exhibit called NAPIER MINE near the Buffalo River in Tennessee four miles south of the parkway junction with Tennessee highways 20 and 412.
"As people moved into the expanding frontier, it wasn't possible to bring everything they needed, and they couldn't afford to have it shipped from the East. Among the things pioneers settling these areas needed were items made of iron, like shoes for their horses and nails, plow points and hoes for tending the fields and cast iron pots and skillets for cooking their food. In 1805, Dr. Rush Nutt discovered Iron ore here, and that provided the raw material for iron making operations in this area from 1820 to 1923.
"NAPIER MINE was an open pit mine because ore deposits were shallow here. Miners dug this high yield ore with pick axes and hauled it out in wagons drawn by mules.
"The exhibit at NAPIER MINE has specimens of the ore dug from the mine and examples of the iron products that could be made from the ore. From the exhibit parking lot visitors can see the pit of the mine.
"Join us next time when we will visit METAL FORD. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"In building the parkway it wasn't possible to follow the Old Trace exactly. What worked for people traveling on foot and on horseback 200 years ago doesn't work well today in a car going 50 mph.
"We are 5 miles north of where the Natchez Trace Parkway intersects Tennessee highway 64 at an exhibit called OLD TRACE DRIVE. This is a 2.5 mile section of the Old Natchez Trace that you can drive along in your car. Visitors have to travel the old road at a slower pace and get to see it up close. It makes you think about the footsteps that have preceded you, about the roaming buffalo and the Indian's plight at the hands of the colonists, of the thousands of Kaintucks and boatmen carrying their goods by river to Natchez and returning home with everything they owned on their backs. They were likely prey for thieves and robbers who waited -- vultures feeding off the work of others. Imagine the weary post riders and troops of soldiers passing through here to build and defend this great nation -- circuit riding preachers, building missions and schools among the Indians.
"These were people like you and me, who swam the rivers and streams, waded swamps and fought disease, and animals, and insects and violent storms. They faced life threatening heat and cold. People did all this... and for what purpose?
"Join us next time When we will visit NAPIER MINE. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are going to visit several trails and exhibits just north of Collinwood, Tennessee.
"SWEETWATER BRANCH nature trail takes 15 or 20 minutes to walk. This branch was named for the "sweet" flavor of the water. Travelers today should not drink the water. The shallow rocky soil of this bottom land supports plants and trees as they struggle to grow, as the branch continues to carve and shape the valley. In season, wildflowers are plentiful in this area.
"A few mile north is another branch that parallels the parkway, and the park service has built two picnic areas connected by a trail that runs 2/3 of a mile along side GLENROCK BRANCH. The sites are LOWER and UPPER GLENROCK BRANCH PICNIC AREAS.
"And 3 miles north of Glenrock Branch is an exhibit that refers to a spot along the Old Trace called DOGWOOD MUDHOLE. You can possibly guess how it got its name. It's a low spot in a ridge that's covered with dogwood trees. This spot became a difficult passage for wagons after heavy rains. So, this mudhole came to be known as DOGWOOD MUDHOLE.
"Join us next time when we will travel 2.5 miles along an actual piece of the Original Old Natchez Trace. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"In 1811, on board a steamboat named the New Orleans, Nicholas Roosevelt pioneered steam travel down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
"As the New Orleans passed along the western border of the state of Tennessee, the first shocks of an earthquake struck near New Madrid, Mo. on December the 16th. Villages were destroyed, bluffs along the Mississippi fell into the river, ravines opened as far south as Natchez. As a result of the earthquake of 1811, the ground in the northwestern corner of Tennessee collapsed and giant waves from the Mississippi flowed to fill the depression, reversing the flow of the Mighty River and forming Reelfoot Lake.
(Awakening musical Interlude)
"This tune is called Awakening. It is RoadMusic® written especially for this part of our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway through Tennessee.
"Steamboats helped bring an end to pioneer travel along the Natchez Trace in the early 1800s. At a pivotal point in this rapidly changing world stood a truly remarkable year.
"Annus mirabilis 1811.
"Join us next time when we will visit SWEETWATER BRANCH, GLENROCK BRANCH and DOGWOOD MUDHOLE. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Annus mirabilis -- miraculous year. This comes from Jonathan Daniels story of the Natchez Trace, The Devil's Backbone.
"In 1811 the steamboat pioneer, Robert Fulton, hired Nicholas Roosevelt to travel the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to see if a steamboat could navigate them. Roosevelt and his bride took there honeymoon 6 months on board a flatboat to check out the rivers and determined that it was indeed possible for a steamboat to negotiate the currents. So Roosevelt built a steamboat named the New Orleans, and in the fall of 1811, Nicholas and his wife, an engineer, a pilot, six hands and a dog set out from Pittsburgh on board a 300 ton steamboat, headed for Natchez and points south.
"As though announcing the beginning of this new era of river travel, a great comet shown against a moonlit night, as the New Orleans made its way down the river past Louisville, Kentucky.
"After the New Orleans sailed past the section of the Mississippi River that lies along the western border of the state of Tennessee, the first shocks of an earthquake struck near New Madrid, Mo. on December the 16th.
"On our next program we will finish our story of the miraculous year of 1811 with the forming of Reelfoot Lake while we listen to a bit of RoadMusic® along the way. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we visit another of the trading posts established along the Old Trace, McGLAMERY STAND. It was built in 1849 by John McGlamery, quite late in the old road's history. This stand didn't survive the Civil War, but today, the nearby village is known as McGlamery Stand.
"'Annus mirabilis' is the title of a chapter in the book Devil's Backbone by Jonathan Daniels. This is Latin meaning "Miraculous Year." The title was inspired by a quotation from the Englishman Charles J. Latrobe, who journeyed through the American West with Washington Irving in 1811. To Latrobe 1811 was a year of miracles.
"In America early in 1811, many rivers flooded, and the flooding was followed by a great deal of sickness. Then there was an unexplained migration of squirrels from the north, tens of thousands, charging south in droves. Nothing seemed to stop them and large numbers perished in the broad waters of the Ohio River, which lay along their path.
"The steamboat pioneer, Robert Fulton, hired Nicholas Roosevelt to travel the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to see if a steamboat could navigate them. On our next program we will journey down the Mississippi on a barge with Roosevelt and his newly wed wife.
"For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting an exhibit 8 miles north of the Tennessee-Alabama State line. The exhibit is called SUNKEN TRACE and offers visitors a look at how this old road through the wilderness changed with the passage of time and traffic.
"We've seen how the Natchez Trace grew out of the geography of the land and the movement of animals and man, and rivers and streams. Just as the animals and people have changed during the course of the trail's history, the trail itself changed in response to the life it bore.
"The Old Natchez Trace itself relocated as it became worn. Heavy traffic would eventually turn spots along the trail into dangerous mud holes, and travelers would begin to make their way around these spots. As a result a new trail would soon grow to replace the old worn spot. At SUNKEN TRACE visitors can see three distinct cuts through the woods, that were made to avoid the mud. Each of these was at one time a part of the path we know today as the Natchez Trace.
"Join us on our next program when we will visit McGLAMERY STAND. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we are leaving Alabama and going into the state of Tennessee. In 1663 King Charles II granted the Carolina Colony all the land starting at the Atlantic Ocean and running west between the 31st and 36th parallel. The 31st parallel is the bottom border of Mississippi below Natchez. The 36th parallel is now the northern boundary of North Carolina and Tennessee. When North and South Carolina separated they established the border between them as the 35th parallel. North Carolina released it's claim on lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, and this became the state of Tennessee the 16th state, entering the Union in 1796. So, the 35th parallel became what is now the southern border of Tennessee.
"John Coffee, supervised the survey of this line between 1817 and 1822, some 10 years later John Coffee negotiated for the United States in the Treaties of Dancing Rabbit Creek and Pontotoc Creek.
"Just for the record, I checked the almanac under Tennessee... the state flower is the iris, Motto: AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE, state bird: the same as Mississippi, the mockingbird, tree: tulip poplar and the state song: THE TENNESSEE WALTZ.
"Join us next time when we will visit SUNKEN TRACE. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are about a mile and a half beyond the Tennessee River at an exhibit called ROCK SPRING.
"Colbert Creek empties into the Tennessee River near where the river and the parkway intersect. A mile or so above the mouth of Colbert Creek, beaver have built a dam near where Rock Spring feeds into the creek. This place is alive with activity in the spring and summer, and in the backwater of the beaver dam visitors can see fish and turtles -- wildlife of many varieties.
When we were at Myrick Creek closer to Jackson, Mississippi we looked at an area after Beaver had deserted it. This area is much more lively than Myrick Creek. There's a loop trail that takes about 20 minutes to walk, and visitors even have to use stepping stones to cross the Creek. There are benches along the way too, to sit and watch and listen to some of what travelers along the Old Trace experienced.
(Live sounds from Rock Spring)
"Join us next time when we will be leaving Alabama and entering the State of Tennessee. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are crossing the Tennessee River at the JOHN COFFEE MEMORIAL BRIDGE.
"John Coffee was an old Indian fighting buddy of Andrew Jackson and one of Jackson's Generals who fought with him against the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Coffee was chosen by Jackson to negotiate for the United States with the Choctaw at Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 and with the Chickasaw at Pontotoc Creek in 1832. In both cases Coffee was successful in getting the Indians to give up all their tribal lands to the United States. These negotiations resulted in later banishment of the Indians from their ancestral home to lands West of the Mississippi during the painful Indian Removal that has come to be known as the Trail of Tears. In 1839, along this infamous trail to exile the Chickasaw Indian Chief, Tishomingo, died of smallpox before reaching the new lands in Oklahoma. This old respected leader of the Chickasaw Indians was buried west of Little Rock, Arkansas near Fort Coffee.
"Join us next time when we will visit ROCK SPRING. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"For early travelers, the Tennessee River was the biggest obstacle along the entire Natchez Trace.
"At the COLBERT FERRY stop, down by the edge of the River, there's a taped message that tells what it was like crossing the Tennessee River in the early 1800s and before. The river wasn't as wide as it is today. It was swift moving and a little more than a quarter mile across (about a third the distance it is now). What you'll see there today is a lake created in the mid 1930s when the Tennessee Valley Authority build Pickwick Dam, down river from this site about 25 miles to the northwest.
"After the Natchez Trace became a national road in 1800, George Colbert, a powerful Chickasaw Indian Chief and a brother to Levi Colbert at Buzzard Roost Spring, operated a ferry and stand at the river. Visitors at this exhibit can see where George Colbert's stand was located and an old photograph of the stand itself. George Colbert was a clever businessman, and it is said that he once charged Andrew Jackson $75,000. to ferry the Tennessee army across the river.
"Join us next time when we will cross the Tennessee River on the JOHN COFFEE MEMORIAL BRIDGE. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"On the parkway in Alabama, about 7 miles before we reach the Tennessee River there is an exhibit called BUZZARD ROOST SPRING. Buzzard Roost was one of the most famous stands along the Natchez Trace, at the site of a large spring originally called BUZZARD SLEEP. In 1801 Levi Colbert built his stand near this spring. At that time this was Chickasaw land and the stands were owned by Indians.
"Levi wasn't a full-blooded Indian, his father was a Scotsman, James Logan Colbert, who spent most of his life among the Chickasaw and may have been an important military strategist for the Chickasaw in their battle against the French at Ackia. The father's military prowess wasn't lost on Levi. One fall while most of the young men of the tribe were away on hunt, the Creek Indians attacked the Chickasaw village that was Levi Colbert's home. Levi organized the remaining men, young and old, and lead them to victory over the Creeks. For his bravery, Levi received honor at Council, seated upon a wooden bench rather than upon the ground. He received the name, Itawamba Mingo, meaning Bench Chief. As one of the mixed bloods Levi became acting chief of the entire Chickasaw Nation. Highly respected and trusted, he was known as Levi, "The Incorruptible."
"Join us next time when we will visit COLBERT FERRY. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our trip up the Natchez Trace Parkway traveling from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are in northwest Alabama climbing out of the bottom land of Bear Creek up to the exhibit called FREEDOM HILLS OVERLOOK.
"There's a steep paved walkway there that leads about a quarter of a mile up from the parking area to an overlook. There is a bench where visitors can sit and look to the east over the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This overlook is 800 feet above sea level, about the same elevation as the highest point in all of the state of Mississippi, which is a dozen or so miles west at Woodall Mountain. This overlook is the highest point along the parkway in the state of Alabama.
"We climbed up out of the Bear Creek bottom land to reach this peak; as we continue north we'll be entering the valley that contains the Tennessee River, which is about 10 miles farther up the Trace.
"Join us next time when we will visit Buzzard Roost Spring. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we leave the state of Mississippi and cross into Alabama, the 22nd state to join the Union. That was on Dec. 14, 1819. The Southern pine is the state tree. The state flower is a rose-like flower that grows on a bush, called a camellia. The state bird is the yellowhammer. And the motto? WE DARE TO DEFEND OUR RIGHTS. The state song is ALABAMA.
"After crossing the state line the parkway begins to drop off into bottom land. Down in the bottom we get to see Bear Creek as it parallels the parkway off to the west. In the bottom is the BEAR CREEK PICNIC AREA, where canoeists can access Bear Creek. Bear Creek flows into the Tennessee River about 15 miles to the north of here, and for about the last 10 of those miles Bear Creek is part of Pickwick Lake, one of the chain of lakes formed by dams built along the Tennessee River in the 1930s.
"At one time General Andrew Jackson was a close friend of Chief Tishomingo, the old and venerated Chickasaw Indian chief. On several occasions, these two friends, paddled canoes together where the mouth of Bear Creek opens into the Tennessee River at Eastport, Mississippi.
"Join us next time when we will visit the FREEDOM HILLS OVERLOOK. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, and today we visit BEAR CREEK MOUND, our last exhibit before we leave Mississippi.
"The Bear Creek Mound is typical of the ceremonial Indian Mounds we have seen along our Natchez Trace journey. It is a flat topped temple mound that stands about 10 feet high and is right on the Mississippi-Alabama Border. The mound itself was built less than a 1000 years ago, sometime between 1200 and 1400 AD. At first you may think this is just another old Indian mound; however, the mound is located at the oldest major prehistoric site on the entire Natchez Trace. Dating back more than 10,000 years, the BEAR CREEK MOUND SITE was occupied by migratory hunters as early as 8000 B.C. Just imagine, this site was occupied by human beings for thousands of years, from Paleo times through the Mississippian period.
"On our next program we will take a small step in our journey as we cross over into Alabama, but remember this final exhibit in Mississippi; it's a lasting footprint of human life here that spanned not just a few decades and centuries, but rather, several millennia. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, and today we are very near the Mississippi-Alabama State line at an exhibit called Cave Spring.
"The basic type of rock in this area is limestone. When rain falls, the water absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and this forms a weak acid. As this water seeps through the ground it dissolves the limestone very slowly. At this site, the underground water dissolved a large cavern out of the limestone just beneath the surface and eventually the roof of the cavern gave way and the ground here fell in to open up a cavern filled with spring water. This spring was probably used as a source of water by the Indians in this area over the millennia; however, today the spring water is unsafe to drink and the cavern is dangerous, so visitors to the Cave Spring exhibit are cautioned to be careful -- look but don't touch.
"There is another exhibit near Cave Spring, actually just a few tenths of a mile to the north. It's the last exhibit within the State of Mississippi and is the oldest site on the entire Natchez Trace. So, join us on our next program when we will visit the Bear Creek Mound. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"TISHOMINGO is the Chickasaw Indian name meaning WARRIOR CHIEF. Today we visit TISHOMINGO STATE PARK along the Natchez Trace Parkway about 6 mile before it leaves Mississippi and crosses into Alabama. The park, county and nearby town are all named for the last great war chief of the Chickasaw Indian Nation, Chief Tishomingo.
"The land in this scenic state park was Tishomingo's favorite hunting ground, and saddle back ridge was his favorite spot, where he spent many hours riding young white children on his spotted red horse and telling them stories of his many battles. He fought with Gen. Wayne in the Revolutionary War against the British and later along side Andrew Jackson.
"He fought with his tribesmen in the war against the Creek Indians 1793-1795, and was a great warrior in the Chickasaws victorious last war against the Cherokee. Tishomingo was the Chickasaw advisor and leader in the Treaty of Pontotoc in 1832 that resulted in the Chickasaw removal to west of the Mississippi. He felt the pain of his tribe in leaving their home land. Tishomingo's favorite spot in the world was here, and when he was more than 100 years old, he gave it up, left never to return. Tishomingo died on the journey to exile with his people.
"Join us next time when we will visit Cave Spring. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we are visiting the Bay Springs Lock and Dam site on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. The Lock is just off the Natchez Trace Parkway about 30 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi.
"Construction of the Waterway began in 1972 and was finished in 1985. The RIVER section of the Waterway is south of Bay Springs and utilizes the Tombigbee River coming north from Demopolis, Alabama to Amory, Mississippi. Using a chain of lakes construction, the CANAL section runs from Amory to Bay Springs where barges locking through change elevation by 84 feet. The final DIVIDE CUT SECTION was the most difficult to construct. It had to be cut through the Hills of Northeast Mississippi for 39 miles from Bay Springs to Yellow Creek, which flows into the Tennessee River.
"The Natchez Trace bridge across the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway at Bay Springs is named in honor of U. S. Representative, Jamie L. Whitten, from Mississippi, who fought in Congress to complete both the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. This bridge stands where two of the Congressman's greatest accomplishments cross each other's paths.
"Join us next time when we will visit Tishomingo State Park. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we visit where the TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY crosses the Natchez Trace Parkway about 30 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi.
"The Tombigbee River was known as the "River of the Chickasaw" -- Desoto crossed it when he came through the Chickasaw land in 1540. Bienville traveled with his troops up the Tombigbee from Mobile in 1736 with visions of destroying the Chickasaw Nation, before being routed by the Chickasaw at the Battle of Ackia. But Bienville saw the advantage of a waterway connecting the Tombigbee and the Tennessee Rivers and recommended it to Louis XIV. It would allow a more direct water route to the Gulf of Mexico for much of the territory East of the Mississippi River. Frontier settlers also recognized the advantage such a waterway would bring, and in 1810 residents along the
"Tennessee River in the Knoxville Tennessee area proposed to Congress that the two rivers be connected. The Army Corps of Engineers made the first survey in 1827. Transportation by steam power and fossil fuel and a growing railway and highway system delayed further discussion of the waterway for quite sometime, but the economics of water transportation finally brought this project to the nations attention once again.
"Join us on our next program when we will continue our discussion of the Waterway and visit the nearby Bay Springs Lock and Dam. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"PHARR MOUNDS, located 20 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi on the Natchez Trace Parkway, is the most important archaeological site in northern Mississippi. It's also the largest, containing 8 dome shaped mounds spread over an area the size of 100 football fields. The Pharr Mounds date from the Middle Woodland Culture. People were at this site between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D.
"Although the builders of these mounds traveled to hunt and trade, they probably stayed at a village most of the year. Archaeologists have discovered a village here that was occupied as much as 400 years before the mounds were built.
"Artifacts recovered in 1966 indicate that the builders of these mounds were a part of the "HOPEWELL INTERACTION SPHERE" that had a far reaching trade network and was centered in Ohio and Illinois. Large ceremonial burial complexes like this one were a characteristic of the Hopewell Tradition.
"The Pharr mounds were built by first constructing a low, clay platform where log tombs were built or graves were dug to prepare a crematory basin. In ceremonies the dead were cremated or placed in tombs or graves along with objects to reflect the importance of the deceased. The site was covered over with dirt and cremations, until the large dome shape was constructed and the final layer of soil was placed on top. This back breaking work was done to honor important individuals.
"Join us next time when we will visit the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Nashville we will look at a couple of exhibits that show us some of the bottom lands through which travelers of the Trace had to pass. We are now about 20 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi.
"The first exhibit is DONIVAN SLOUGH that contains a woodland nature trail through rich moist soil that supports Tulip poplar, sycamore and water oak, all trees that tolerate lots of water. A slough like this is a winding channel that makes its way through swampy bottom land. The occasional flooding that occurs influences the variety of plant life. There is a nature trail at Donivan Slough and a 20 minute walk lets visitors see how Bald Cypress grow.
"A couple of miles north from the slough is BROWN'S BOTTOM where several bridges now cross Little Brown Creek and other perennial streams in this bottom land. Remember, in the early 1800s there were no bridges.
"Join us next time when we will visit the most important archaeological site in northern Mississippi, Pharr Mounds. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi north to Nashville, Tennessee we are 15 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi. Today's exhibit is called TWENTYMILE BOTTOM OVERLOOK.
"From the overlook you can see the bottom land of Twentymile Creek. This land is typical of the terrain encountered by early travelers of the Natchez Trace. Near this bottom was another of the stands that grew up along the Trace where travelers could find food and rest along their journey. This was called Old Factors Stand.
"It's hard for us these days to imagine what it was like for early travelers of the Trace, but at the Twentymile Bottom exhibit there is a quotation from Rev. John Johnson that might give us a hint. Rev. Johnson wrote of the day he journeyed to this stand in 1812.
'I have this day swam my horse 5 times, bridged one creek forded several others beside the swamp we had to wade through. At night we had a shower of rain; took up my usual lodging on the ground in company with several Indians.'
"Join us next time when we will be visiting DONIVAN SLOUGH and BROWN'S BOTTOM. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Todays stop is at an exhibit called Dogwood Valley located about a dozen miles along the parkway north of Tupelo, Mississippi. A 15 minute nature trail takes visitors along a section of the Old Sunken Trace. It goes through a wooded area called DOGWOOD VALLEY. The valley gets its name because there's an unusually large number of flowering dogwood trees there. These are small trees that are common throughout the eastern United States. They blossom in the early spring of the year near Easter Season.
"Join us next time when we will be visiting Twentymile Bottom Overlook and hear from the Rev. John Johnson who tells us a little of what it was like to journey through here on horseback. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
(Music segue to BlueGray)
"Today we are visiting the graves of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers at a site just north of Tupelo, Mississippi as we make our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. A 5 minute walk takes visitors to the top of a small hill where these graves can be seen.
"By the time the American Civil War began much of the Old Natchez Trace was no longer used, but the war impacted the area as it did the entire nation. The soldiers whose graves lie atop this hill may have fought at the Battle of Shiloh, or they may have served under Nathan Bedford Forest, or as part of J. B. Hood's Army of Tennessee -- we may never know. The grave markers here have long since vanished and the names they carried, if ever they carried names, have disappeared with them. The National Park Service has erected 13 headstones. Each carries the inscription, UNKNOWN CONFEDERATE SOLDIER.
"In the background you hear another of the RoadMusic® pieces written to accompany the Natchez Trace Journey through this bit of Civil War History.
(brief interlude)
"Join us on our next program when we will visit Dogwood Valley. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting the TUPELO VISITOR CENTER, which also houses the parkway headquarters.
"Outside the center there's a half mile loop trail, the BEECH SPRING TRAIL. This gentle grade trail passes through an area of forest regrowth. Inside the center there is an orientation program as well as exhibits that take visitors from ancient times through Indian and white man settlements up to modern times. You can see Indian artifacts recovered from within the park boundaries, along with exhibits of equipment used by pioneers and Kaintucks in the 1800s. There's also a scale model of a flat boat like those the boatmen used to float their products down the Mississippi River to Natchez and New Orleans.
"The visitor center is the best place to purchase books about the history of the Natchez Trace and about the Indians who first lived here, and about local and regional history around Civil War times. And of course there's a ranger on duty to answer questions about the Old Trace and the parkway.
"Join us next time when we will visit the graves of 13 unknown Confederate Soldiers. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The next stop along the parkway is in Tupelo Mississippi. It is OLD TOWN OVERLOOK, where there's another marker erected by the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution. This one was presented to the City of Tupelo on November 19, 1914. The inscription mentions the Battle of Ackia. This is a partial quotation from that monument.
'Bienville fought the Battle of Ackia with the Chickasaw Indians near this spot May 26, 1736. Of the rage that repulsed him let it be recorded here, they die well who die for faith and home and native land.'
"Of course the entire story doesn't end with the Battle of Ackia, but it was the beginning of the end for the French in this region, because after Bienville's defeat at the hands of the Chickasaws, French influence within the region declined rapidly.
"This exhibit overlooks the flood plane of OLD TOWN CREEK as the Natchez Trace begins to make its way up into the Northeast hill section of Mississippi, and what are the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. OLD TOWN CREEK is one of the source streams of the Tombigbee River, which was first known as 'THE RIVER OF THE CHICKASAW'
"Join us next time when we will visit the TUPELO VISITOR CENTER. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Along the Natchez Trace Parkway, within the city limits of Tupelo, Mississippi is an exhibit shelter that tells of Chickasaw Village life in the early 1700s. There are foundations there that show the size and shape of both summer and winter homes and of a fort the group would use in times of danger.
"One threat to the Chickasaw came from the French following the Natchez Indian's massacre of French troops at Fort Rosalie in 1729 and the subsequent annihilation of the Natchez Tribe by the French. A few Natchez Indians took refuge with their friends the Chickasaws.
"Ackia was a fortified Chickasaw Indian village, located within the city limits of present day Tupelo, Mississippi. Bienville had returned from France and he decided to annihilate the Chickasaws because they sheltered the escaped Natchez Indians and because the Chickasaw were allies with the British and constantly threatening communications between French colonies in Louisiana and those in Canada. Bienville lead a French and Choctaw army up from Mobile while d'Artaguette brought an army down from the north. D'Artaguette got to the Chickasaws first, and the Chickasaws killed him. Then along came Bienville. Though Bienville survived, the Chickasaws forced him and his troops back to Mobile.
"Join us next time and look at more of the battle. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, we are visiting the Tupelo National Battlefield. This exhibit is located within the town of Tupelo, and is a little more than a mile off the parkway.
"The Tupelo Battlefield Exhibit is not as extensive as the Civil War battlefields at Vicksburg or Shiloh, but it is a monument to the Union and Confederate armies that fought at the Battle of Tupelo on July 14, 1864. The Federal forces under General Andrew J. Smith were the victors.
"The whole thing had to do with General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. Union supply lines for Sherman's March were in danger of being cut off by the troops of Confederate General Forest in northern Mississippi. The Union sent General A. J. Smith down from the north with 14,000 troops and engaged 10,000 Confederate troops under General Steven B. Lee with a right flank commanded by Forest. The battle consisted of five attacks by the Confederates that day. They were unable to penetrate the Union defenses.
"Join us on our next program. When we will take a look at a Chickasaw Indian village, and a DA AR marker at Old Town overlook for Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness. Line Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"About 10 miles south of Tupelo on the Natchez Trace Parkway is an exhibit called the BLACK BELT OVERLOOK.
"In a much earlier age all this area lay under a part of the ocean, which extended up across much of the state of Alabama, entering what is now Mississippi from the east near Columbus. From there an arm of the ocean reached through here north up into Tennessee. The ocean's marine life, shells and such, formed deposits of limestone that built up to be the land here. Over the ages the weathered limestone has become the black fertile soil of this area known as the Black Belt or Black Prairie, and it's also known as the Tombigbee Prairie. This area is one of Mississippi's two richest growing areas and was once one of the nation's great cotton belts. Now it is mostly pasture land.
"The other major agricultural spot in Mississippi lies farther to the west but still it's in the northern part of the State. That area is the delta of the Mississippi River, which is on the other side of the state from here. The Delta lies between a belt of Loess soil and the Mississippi River, on a section of the river just South of Memphis, Tennessee, on down as far as Vicksburg.
"Join us next time when we will visit the TUPELO NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD. I'm Frank Thomas, you guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Nashville we visit an exhibit known as the Chickasaw Council House. It is 11 or 12 miles south of Tupelo and due east of the town of Pontotoc. Along the original Old Natchez Trace was an Indian Village "PONTATOCK." The village had a council house, which became the capitol of the entire Chickasaw Indian Nation in the 1820s.
"In the fall of 1832, President Andrew Jackson had John Coffee to negotiate with the Chickasaw, for their land, as Coffee had done with the Choctaw two years earlier at Dancing Rabbit Creek. Negotiations took place at The CHICKASAW COUNCIL HOUSE in Pontotoc and on October 20th 1832 the Chickasaw and the United States Government signed the Treaty of Pontatock Creek, where the Chickasaw relinquished all their lands.
"When the Chickasaw went west, they carried the name of Pontotoc with them -- there's also a county and village of Pontotoc in Oklahoma. By the way, Pontotoc, known as the land of the hanging grapes, is the Chickasaw name meaning "Cattail Prairies".
"Join us next time when we will visit Black Belt Overlook. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"About 12 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi is an exhibit called Tockshish. This exhibit tells about a site on the Old Natchez Trace known as Tockshish. This was McIntoshville, a community of white men and Indians built up around the home of the British Indian agent, John McIntosh, who settled there before 1770. When the old Indian trail was established as a national road in 1801, Tockshish became a relay station where post riders carrying mail between Nashville and Natchez could exchange weary horses for fresh ones. The post riders would then move on with their mail bags. For them it was a 5 day journey from there to Nashville and 7 days to Natchez. The RoadMusic® selection at this site speaks of the efforts of these post riders."
( Clip from song )
You'll reach the other side when you get there. Never count the miles you've got to go. Travel hard all day then you can say, I've gone about as far as I can go.
"Join us next time on Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness when we will journey up to the Chickasaw Council House. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We're on a journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway traveling north from Natchez, Mississippi heading up to Nashville, Tennessee. Today we visit an exhibit located in the northern part of the Tombigbee National Forest, 15 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi.
"The Chickasaw's first contact with Christianity and with formal education came in 1822 at the site of MONROE MISSION. Many of the Indians who became Chickasaw leaders in Oklahoma were taught in one of three missionary schools. One of those schools was MONROE MISSION STATION.
"The church there was only 16 feet square, but 150 people were baptized in it. In school the students had classroom work, and in addition, the girls were taught spinning and weaving, and the boys, farming and carpentry. In 1827, eighty-one students attended school there, and that year they cultivated land, which totaled 100 acres.
"Join us next time when we will stop by the exhibit for Tockshish. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are stopping by an exhibit 17 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi. It is called HERNANDO DESOTO.
"Desoto was the Spanish explorer who came through this region from 1539-1541. When he and his men visited Emerald mound just north of Natchez, they not only brought beads and trinkets to trade with the native Indians, they also brought disease to the Mississippian Indians who lived there, disease, that may have aided in the early demise of this highly advanced Indian culture.
"During the same expedition Desoto and his men crossed the Tombigbee River in December of 1540 and spent that winter with the Chickasaw Indians to the east of today's exhibit. It's along here that Desoto would have crossed this famous old Indian trail in 1541, and in June of that year, just south of what is now Memphis, Tennessee Desoto is given credit for being the first European to discover the Mississippi River.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Monroe Mission. I'm Frank Thomas, Your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"On our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we are about 20 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi. Today's exhibit is called Chickasaw Agency.
"From 1802 until 1825 the United States Agents to the Chickasaw Indian Nation lived several miles west of this exhibit on the original Old Natchez Trace itself.
"During the Spring and Summer thousands of Kaintucks and Boatmen would float the produce from their farms down the Mississippi River to Natchez or New Orleans and then journey along the old road from Natchez back to their homes in the Ohio River Valley.
"While the United States had gained permission for pioneers to use this old buffalo trail by signing treaties with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, during the early 1800s this land still belonged to the Chickasaw. It was the U.S. Agent's responsibility to keep the peace through the Chickasaw territory, and the job involved capturing fugitives, recovering stolen horses and collecting debts, and many of the travelers along the old road expected the agents to provide them with food, medicine and a good night's rest.
"On our next program we'll stop by the exhibit called Hernando Desoto and look at events that occurred in these lands almost 300 years before the days of the U.S. Indian Agents, as the first European explorers made contact with the native American Indians. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are taking a journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee and today we have reached the site of Witch Dance near Houston, Mississippi on the southern border of a unit of the Tombigbee National Forest.
"The National Forests in Mississippi are an important resource for the state and while this unit of the Tombigbee National Forest contains mostly watershed lakes that are built to control flooding, there is one exception, the 200-acre recreational Davis Lake built in 1937 which sits amidst stands of pine trees and hardwoods and offers visitors the opportunity to camp, picnic, swim, and water ski as well as enjoy fishing and boating.
"Near Davis Lake and still within the forest are the Owl Creek Indian Mounds and village complex that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places and dates from the Mississippian Period (1000 to 1300 A.D).
"The Witch Dance exhibit along the Natchez Trace Parkway is the access point for two horse riding trails within the Tombigbee National Forest, one six miles and another 9 miles long.
"There's a myth about the witch dance site, that once witches gathered and danced here, and where their feet touched the ground, the grass would die and never again grow.
"Join us on our next program when we will visit the Chickasaw Agency. For Natchez Trace a Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness.
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we'll visit BYNUM MOUNDS just north of Houston, Mississippi.
"We are now in Chickasaw Territory, and while the Chickasaw did settle here, the Bynum Mounds date form the Woodland Indian Period. This site dates back over 1500 years. There's a recording there that tells of Indian village life, of their living from the land gathering berries, nuts and fruit from the wild. They also fished, hunted wild game and farmed.
In the summers the Woodland Indians lived in lean to shelters and in the winter they lived in more permanent circular houses built from timbers, interwoven with reeds and willow and plastered on the outside with mud.
"Special houses were built where in a small pit the bodies of the dead were cremated. After the site had been used for some time, the entire house was burned and the remains of the cremations along with bodies that had not been cremated were laid around the edge of the burned house. After tools and ornaments had been placed with the burials the entire site was covered high with earth, creating the mounds we see there today.
"Join us next time when we'll hear the myth of Witch Dance on the southern border of the Tombigbee National Forest. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we visit an exhibit called LINE CREEK.
"To the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, private land ownership had no meaning. Land was something for the good of the group and was held in common by the tribe. Understandably then, property lines were not familiar and had little importance in the everyday lives of Indians and the tribes. Even between tribes, boundaries were seldom distinct. But the Chickasaw and the Choctaw tribes were not friendly, and over the years the two tribes came to accept a stream that flowed through this valley as the dividing line between their two lands. It remained a boundary until these two tribes were forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1830s.
"At this boundary was another one of the stands along the Old Trace. It belonged to Noah Wall and his wife.
"So, after we cross Line Creek near this exhibit we'll be leaving the old Choctaw Indian territory and entering what was the land of the mighty Chickasaw.
"Join us next time when we'll journey on up into the old Chickasaw lands and visit Bynum Mounds, burial mounds from the Woodland Indian Culture. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace we come to Pigeon Roost which is just south of the junction of the Trace and Mississippi Highway 82.
"Pigeon Roost was the site of a trading post established before 1790, belonging to a New Englander named Nathaniel Folsom who was married to a Choctaw woman. Their son, David Folsom, followed in their footsteps operating the trading post, and was a strong supporter of both Indian education and of Christianity. In 1826 David Folsom was elected Chief of the Northeast District of the Choctaw Nation.
"PIGEON ROOST gets its name because passenger pigeons used to migrate through here by the millions. They roosted in the trees in this area. It is said that so many pigeons roosted here that their weight would brake the limbs of the greatest trees. In 1810 the ornithologist Alexander Wilson recorded that a flock observed by him was as much as 240 miles long, an estimated 2 and 1/4 billion pigeons. None of us traveling through here these days will see one of these birds, and more than likely you have never seen one, since the last known survivor of the species died in captivity in 1914.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Line Creek, the boundary between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Just north of Jeff Busby Campground is an Old Trace Exhibit that tells how in the early 1800s, it was feared that the Mississippi Valley region would become a separate nation simply because of poor communication. This prompted Congress to establish this road as a post route between Nashville and Natchez.
"The post road itself changed. In 1801 it ran south out of Nashville along this old Trace. In 1802 post riders leaving Nashville went south to Franklin, Tennessee and then over to the Old Trace. In 1808 riders continued to Columbia, Tennessee and by 1819 to Florence, Alabama and west to join the Trace at Buzzard Roost Spring. In 1821 the post road continued from Florence down the Jackson Military Road to Columbus, Mississippi. After 1824 the post followed the newly completed Robinson road to Jackson, Mississippi, then to Raymond and Rocky Springs.
"Not only the path changed, but the frequency of the mail changed too. When Mail service first started in 1800 there was only one trip each way every month. By 1816 there were 3 trips a week. It's clear that in the early 1800s post riders along the Natchez Trace played an important role in holding the frontier and the republic together.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Pigeon Roost. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway we are visiting Jeff Busby Park, located near Ackerman, Mississippi.
"Above the campground here is Little Mountain Summit where you'll find a large nature and history exhibit that tells of the Great Eastern Hardwood Forest, by far the greatest hardwood forest in the world. Before Columbus came to this hemisphere, the Eastern Indians lived in this forest. It was vast, extending from the Gulf Coast up into Canada. There's a quotation at the exhibit that says, "A squirrel could travel from Maine to Texas without touching the ground." This forest is virtually all gone now as are a great many species of animals that made this unique forest their home.
"The exhibit also shows the life of the Indian hunters who lived in the great forest. It explains how they hunted, how they made tools and how they used plants and animals to survive. Then the European explorers came, and settlers followed, cutting down the forest, clearing the land for farming. Field animals survived where forest animals had once flourished. Farming slowly worsened as crops depleted the nutrients in the soil, as poor farming practices and erosion took their toll. The days of Eastern Hardwood Forest with its Indian hunters are gone.
"Join us next time when we'll learn how this ancient trail became a post road. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway we'll stop by a major campsite that was dedicated on November 7, 1965. This is JEFF BUSBY PARK named in honor of the U. S. Congressman from Mississippi, Jeff Busby, who introduced a bill in congress on February 15th of 1934 to authorize a survey of the Old Natchez Trace. Four years later, May the 18th, 1938, the Natchez Trace was designated a unit of the National Park Service.
"There's a service station and camp store located immediately off the road here and it makes a convenient stop for travelers to get gas and food and to rest.
"A road from the store will take you about 3/4 of a mile up to Little Mountain summit, one of the highest points along the parkway in the state of Mississippi, 603 feet above sea level. There is a nature trail, that takes about 15 minutes to walk, between the summit and the campground. This trail identifies more than two dozen food plants that grow in the area, and there are other trails located at the picnic area.
"Join us on our next program when we'll climb up to Little Mountain Summit at Jeff Busby Park and look at the exhibit that tells us about the Eastern Hardwood Forest. For Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we are at French Camp, Mississippi on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Nashville.
"The French Canadian, Lewis LeFleur, established the stand of French Camp along the old Natchez Trace in 1812. He married Rebecca Cravat, a French-Choctaw woman. Their son, Greenwood LeFlore, became a District Chief of the Choctaw Indians, and in the fall of 1830 was principal negotiator at the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek where the last of the Choctaw lands were traded away to the United States. In this treaty the Choctaw were given three years in which to leave Mississippi, but any Choctaw who would agree to submit to the white man's law could stay and receive 640 acres of land -- at least that was in principle, but in practice land agents made it very difficult for the Indians to stay and claim their land. LeFlore on the other hand was granted 2,500 acres of land for his role in the negotiations and others who negotiated for the Choctaw received similar rewards.
"LeFlore became a wealthy plantation owner near the city of Greenwood, Mississippi which was named for him. The county too was named for him, LeFlore, county. He built a beautiful antebellum mansion there, Malmaison, and served as a member of the Mississippi Senate.
"Join us next time when we'll travel on up the parkway and visit Jeff Busby Park. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Nashville we will visit the town of French Camp, Mississippi.
"The French Canadian, Lewis LeFleur, first traded with the Choctaw Indians at a trading post called LeFleur's Bluff, located where Jackson, Mississippi is today. In 1812, LeFleur established a stand along the Old Trace, and because of his nationality the area came to be called French Camp. Today the town that stands at the site of Lewis LeFleur's tavern is French Camp, Mississippi. It became a school in 1822 and has remained one to this day.
"The Natchez Trace exhibit at French Camp is at a monument presented to the town by the Daughter's of the American Revolution in 1915. It was the DAR's presentation of Monuments like this one that brought the Natchez Trace to public attention in the early twentieth century and rekindled interest in the historic road. This ultimately lead to the building the parkway.
"If you travel the Trace you might want to stop by the French Camp Pioneer Village with its Log Cabin Gift Shop and Cafe. If you happen by there on a Saturday in late September and October you may even get to see sorghum molasses being made in much the same way it was in pioneer days.
"Join us next time when we'll continue our look at French Camp and the famous family of Lewis LeFleur. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today's stop along the Natchez Trace Parkway is at an exhibit called Bethel Mission, and it is located on the parkway 4 ½ miles south of French Camp, Mississippi.
"The old Natchez Trace was used by Indians long before Europeans came to the new world. Pioneers began to settle in the Ohio River Valley during the late 1700s and float their produce down the Mississippi River to sell it in Natchez . As thousands of pioneers traveled home over the old Natchez Trace and became familiar with this rich and fertile land there was an increased desire for settlement here. In 1820 the Choctaw reluctantly signed the Treaty of Doak's Stand selling one third of their land to the United States.
"When pioneer families moved into this region they brought their religion as well and in 1822, just 2 years after the treaty, Bethel Mission opened. This was one of 13 Choctaw Indian Missions in the wilderness where missionaries came to teach the gospel to Choctaw and half-breed children. They also taught farming, carpentry, reading, writing and arithmetic.
"This very same year a school opened north of here in French Camp. Join us next time when we'll travel on up to French Camp and take a closer look. For Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making a journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Along the way we are stopping by the more than one hundred exhibits which the park service has erected to interpret the history, culture and nature along this, one of the oldest roads in the world.
"Today we visit a short nature trail along COLE CREEK, another of the many winding creeks and streams that feed water into the Yockanookany River. The early road paralleled this creek for awhile and it would have been a source of food and water for travelers on foot and on horseback.
"Along the parkway there are several nature trails that explore the process of land being reclaimed from rivers and streams. First the streams reroute themselves and leave channels as backwaters, then water tolerant trees like the Water Tupelo and Bald Cypress grow up in the swamps and slowly build up the land. At Cole Creek a nature trail leads visitors through the last stage of a tupelo, bald cypress swamp and then to the early stages of a mixed hardwood bottom land forest. Early travelers along the Natchez Trace would have been much more familiar with this process than most of us today. The speed at which we travel directly effects the scope of our experience and the scale of our understanding.
"Join us next time when we'll visit the 'House of God,' Bethel Mission. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the Wilderness."
"Today our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway has brought us to a nature trail just north of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Each of the nature trails offers us something quite revealing and complex in its detail and yet basically very simple.
"Walking the nature trail at Hurricane Creek can be a poignant experience, especially when you remember that this was once the home of the Choctaw Indians. The trail offers a 15 minute walk and signs that explain differences in vegetation. The trail passes through the wet bottom land of Hurricane Creek, and through American beech and white oak trees and ferns that grow in the bottom. Then the trail climbs up a hill and through hickory trees that grow in the thinner soil then to the hilltop and the southern pine and hardwood forests.
"As with all nature trails along the Trace, this one is in a state of change. As permanent as the pine trees on the hilltop seem, there are few seedlings and the hardwoods are gradually taking over, and as permanent as those hardwood trees may one day seem, events will occur to change the balance of nature. Like the Choctaw, who followed their magical pointing stick and settled for a time and these lands, the Fires of another breed have them to pass on.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Cole Creek for Natchez Trace road through the wilderness. I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting the town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, one of the oldest remaining settlements on the Natchez Trace. It was originally known as Red Bud Springs, an Indian campsite. In the late 1700s a tavern was established to accommodate the growing number of travelers making their way up the old Indian trail, heading toward their homes in the Ohio River Valley.
"In 1830 the Choctaw Indians gave up their lands with the signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek. In 1833 the county was established. It named Attala County for the heroine of a novel by the famous French writer Francois Rene Chateaubriand. The novel Atala was about two Indian lovers that came from different tribes. Red Bud Springs became the county seat and was renamed in honor of a freedom fighting polish General and engineer during the American Revolutionary war who served with distinction at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. This General's name was Thaddeus Andrzej Bonawentura Kosciusko -- the namesake of present day Kosciusko, Mississippi.
"Join us next time when we'll explore a struggle in nature that's taking place along Hurricane Creek. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The Choctaw lived in lands east of the Mississippi River until 1830 when the white men of the United States forced them to sign treaties giving up their land, moving them to the west. Of 20,000 Choctaws forced from their homes 2,000 would die before reaching new settlements in Oklahoma.
"Listen to the words of Kanchi, one of the dispossessed Choctaw, as he stood with friends and relatives on the east bank of the Mississippi River before crossing to the west. They had just received word of the burning of their homes.
" 'My own kin and blood brothers, I know how you feel about what has happened to you; I too have felt the same and looked about for comfort from this wretchedness unto which we have been brought... Why are we surrounded by foes and cast out of our homes...? Sometime back beyond our old homes I heard a man preach from a book that he called a Bible, and although that book was read by a white man, I believe there is something better in it than the way the white man acts... We are in much trouble now, but don't want to kill or destroy, so give us hearts that we hear about in this book and let us be good, and if we live to see this new country to which we travel, help some of us to do good to those we meet. Perhaps we will not bring shame upon the land.' "
"For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We're just south of Kosciusko on the Natchez Trace Parkway in land that once belonged to the Choctaw Indians. East of here is the "promised land," the hill of origins -- Nanih Waiya, sacred to both the Choctaw and the Chickasaw Indians because the traditions of both tell how once they were one people.
"One story tells how the Indians came from the west searching for a homeland with a magical pole to guide them. After a day's travel they would stick the magical spear into the ground and make camp. At sunrise their leaders, two brothers Chicksa and Chacta, would inspect the spear. The direction it leaned pointed the way for their travels that day.
"One day they came to a stream rather early and Chacta placed the spear deep into the earth to mark camp, but Chicksa quarreled with his brother and crossed the stream to make camp, carrying friends and followers with him.
"The next morning the spear wasn't leaning. Chacta said it was a sign telling them this was to be their home. Chicksa and his followers on the other side of the stream had broken camp early and moved on. From that day the two tribes were bitter enemies -- the Chickasaws, who followed the one brother and the Choctaws who stayed with the other... the Chickasaws following the game and the hunt and the Choctaw, a more settled people in their lands, inclined to raise food crops to survive.
"For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today our stop along the Natchez Trace Parkway is at Myrick Creek. The site is known as Beaver Dam and is 15 miles south of Kosciusko, Mississippi. The exhibit and nature trail at Myrick Creek explain the many activities of a member of the rodent family, the beaver. In Mississippi these animals grow as large as 60 pounds. They are clumsy animals on land but have adapted to life in the water, felling trees, and building dams.
"I first thought the nature exhibits and trails that the park service has erected along the parkway were meant simply as an opportunity for travelers to stretch their legs and get out and take a look at nature, but taken as a whole, the Trace's nature exhibits are like a huge puzzle, and each exhibit an informative and interlocking piece of that puzzle. The visitor at Myrick Creek can see first hand that the activities of the beaver are part of nature's process of both clearing and reclaiming land from meandering streams. They help maintain balance and variety. There are no longer any beavers at the MYRICK CREEK site, but a short walk along this nature trail offers clear evidence of their sojourn here.
"Join us next time and hear tales of how the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians came to these lands following the guide of a magic pointing stick. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making a journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway, traveling from Natchez, Mississippi on our way up to Nashville, Tennessee. The parkway follows the footsteps of the migrating buffalo and Indian hunters, of boatmen and farmers returning home after floating the produce of their farms down the Mississippi River to sell in Natchez.
"The Natchez Trace offers travelers a look at this country's frontier history in the context of the natural setting that shaped the people and cultures that interacted here. Like the rivers and streams that erode the land while changing course in the bottom lands, like the water tupelo, and cypress trees that reclaim land from the swamps and the hardwood trees and southern pines that battle each other to harvest the precious sunlight, man's footsteps diverge and rejoin as the path men take constantly changes.
"Another road that intersects the Natchez Trace about 40 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi is called RED DOG ROAD. It ran from Canton Mississippi and was named Red Dog after the Choctaw Indian Chief Ofahoma, which means Red Dog.
"Ofahoma was one of the Choctaw Chiefs that signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek where the Choctaws agreed to leave their tribal homeland and move to Oklahoma. That was in 1830. Red Dog road was opened 4 year later in 1834.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Myrick Creek. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm, Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are taking a journey on the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Today we'll visit an exhibit at Robinson Road. A road built in 1821, to connect the states capitol, Jackson, with Columbus, Mississippi to the east which lies on the banks of the Tombigbee River. Almost all of this road ran through Choctaw Indian territory.
"In 1822, Robinson road was designated as a mail route and soon after began carrying much of the traffic to and from the north. The northern part of the Natchez Trace quickly began to lose its importance. In fact, this was a period of decline for the entire Natchez Trace.
"The 35 foot wide Jackson Military Road between Nashville and New Orleans had been completed in 1820, cutting 220 miles off the distance between these two important cities. And since 1812 steamboats had been plowing up and down the Mississippi River. In 1816 they began carrying much of the traffic that had followed the old "Road through the Wilderness" during the decades before.
"Join us next time when we'll cross another old road, Red Dog Road. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"A site along the Natchez Trace Parkway that is half way between the cities of Jackson and Kosciusko in Mississippi is known as the Yockanookany Picnic Area.
"As we journey on up the Natchez Trace we will be crossing several streams: Nine Mile Creek, Bain Creek, Myrick Creek, Blatlock Creek, Hurricane Creek, Bird Creek. They all drain into the Yockanookany River that flows south and joins the Pearl River near this picnic area.
"These creeks were mileposts to early travelers that marked their progress up the old road. We hardly notice them when we drive the Trace today, but to the Kaintucks and Boatmen on their journey home, these creeks were obstacles to be waded and swum, they were also their source of water and food.
"For some 60 miles of their journey early travelers paralleled the Yockanookany River which lay to their east as they followed the ancient trail of the migrating buffaloes and the Indian hunters.
"So, if during your northbound journey along the Natchez Trace you should happen to stop at the Yockanookany Picnic Area and rest among the Southern Pine trees, think about the early travelers there, who would soon set foot into the bottom lands of the Yockanookany River.
"Join us on our next program when we'll cross Robinson Road. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we visit an exhibit along the Natchez Trace Parkway called Upper Choctaw Boundary.
"In October of 1820, Andrew Jackson, who nine years later would become the 7th President of the United States, met with leaders of the Choctaw Indian Nation, notably the Indian chief Pushmataha. The meeting took place at a tavern established in 1812 by William Doak. Andrew Jackson was asking the Choctaw to give up all of their tribal lands in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River. The Indians didn't like the prospect of leaving their homeland and after several days of argument, Jackson lost his temper and threatened the extinction of the Choctaw Indians or their forced removal to lands in the west if they didn't give up their land willingly. Reluctantly the Choctaw surrendered one third of their land and signed the Treaty of Doak's Stand on October 20th of 1820. Ten years later they were forced to give up all of their lands.
"At the exhibit along the Trace called THE UPPER CHOCTAW BOUNDARY, you can see a line of trees that mark the boundary formed by the Treaty of Doak's Stand.
"Join us next time for a look at the Yockanookany River. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we'll stop by the RIVER BEND PICNIC AREA about 20 miles up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Jackson, Mississippi. At this bend in the Pearl River you can see part of the dynamic process of a river changing its course. The picnic area stands on the outer part of the river bend, at a point where the flowing water and the solid ground meet. You can see how the water is eroding the earth, eating away at the picnic area. At the same time if you look across the river you will see a beach being build as silt from erosion further up stream settles out at the inner bend of this ever changing and winding river.
"When I visit this stop I'm reminded of a chapter in the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese book that takes it's philosophy from the observation of nature. It says:
"There is nothing softer and more yielding than water. And yet when it comes to attacking the solid and the inflexible; It is without equal.
"What we view as weak can overcome the strong; The flexible overcomes the rigid. This is a truth everyone knows, but not everyone puts it into practice.
"Join us next time when we'll stop by a line of trees that mark a boundary established by the Treaty of Doak's Stand. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"There are two species of trees in the area of the Natchez Trace that can live while standing in depths of water that would kill other trees. Theses two species are the water tupelo and the bald cypress. Today we're visiting a site along the parkway just north of Ross Barnett Reservoir; it's called CYPRESS SWAMP. There you'll find a 20 minute nature trail with a boardwalk to carry you across this swamp where the water tupelo and bald cypress live.
"The Pearl River used to flow through the channel where the cypress and water tupelo now grow, but the river changed its course many years ago and left the channel as a backwater and a swamp. This nature trail offers a unique look at land in the process of being reclaimed from the Pearl River and at the variety of plant and animal life the land supports. The first section of the trail to the left of the parking area is a boardwalk across the center of the swamp. At the end of this loop trail off to the right of the parking lot you'll find a bench to sit and peacefully watch and listen to the nature of this area.
"Join us next time and watch as the Pearl River changes it's course. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today our stop along the parkway is on the bank of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The exhibit is called West Florida Boundary.
"Between 1756 and 1763 the conflict known as the Seven Years' War was fought in Europe and India. It pitted the French and the British against each other for control of the seas and control of colonies in North America.
"The North American part of this struggle is what we call the French and Indian War, with the French defending a line of forts from the St. Lawrence River to the Mississippi, against British attack. The chain of French forts was finally broken, and the British spectacular capture of Quebec in 1759 ended French power in America for all practical purposes.
"The 1763 Treaty of Paris marked the end of the war, and Great Britain ended up with much of the former French territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The British formed the highly prized colony of British West Florida with a northern boundary at the 31st parallel north latitude. It was soon discovered this was too restrictive, and in 1764 Great Britain moved the boundary north. As you drive along the shore of the reservoir north of Jackson you cross 32 degrees and 28 minutes north latitude which was the northern boundary of British West Florida in 1764.
"Join us next time when we investigate the life of a Cypress Swamp. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are traveling along the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi up to Nashville, Tennessee and visiting the interpretive exhibits the park service has placed along the way.
"Today we visit Boyd Mounds. These Indian burial mounds stand along the shore of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. A village site near Boyd Mounds dates from around 500 A.D. This was near the end of the Woodland Indian Culture, but earlier than the Mississippian Indians who built Emerald Mound just north of Natchez. Indians occupied this site for centuries before the mounds were built. The village had long been deserted when these burial mounds were constructed between 1300-1500 A.D. Archaeologists have found pottery that dates from before 700 A.D. among the remains of the 41 burials discovered there. They also tell us that the 5 foot high mound that is over 100 feet long covers up two earlier mounds, and though this appears now to be only one mound, it's actually 3 mounds-in-one. Later, Choctaw Indians added burials to the site, and glass beads traded from the arriving white man were found among these later graves.
"Join us on our next program when we'll cross what was the northern boundary of British West Florida in 1764. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Visitors to the Natchez Trace Parkway that travel it using the Road Through the Wilderness audio tour as their guide will enjoy entertaining and informative musical pieces written for unique sights along the parkway. Listen for a moment to part of a piano piece entitled A Long Ride Along the Reservoir which accompanies the drive along the banks of the Ross Barnett Reservoir just north of Jackson, Mississippi. Imagine now, if you will, the smell of new mown grass, see the sunlight shimmering on the water, feel the breeze and hear the waves gently lap at the shore."
(Musical Interlude)
"The Natchez Trace holds the distinction of being the first such road where travelers can listen to RoadMusic® while driving through the place that inspired it.
"Join us next time when we'll make another stop along the parkway and the reservoir to look at the Boyd Indian Mounds. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District was established by the Mississippi legislature in 1958 to develop a reservoir to help prevent floods and provide a dependable water supply for Jackson, Mississippi. This was motivated in part by years of drought during the early 1950s. Today along the Natchez Trace Parkway, just north of Jackson, Mississippi there is a stop called the RESERVOIR OVERLOOK where visitors can see the results of the first project of its type undertaken by a local government for the expressed purpose of conservation and for making the maximum use of the available water supply. From this overlook you can see the Ross Barnett Reservoir, a 50 sq. mile body of water. This comes out to be about 66,000 acres of water formed by an earth filled dam along the Pearl River.
"For several miles the Natchez Trace Parkway leads travelers along the west bank of the reservoir which is one of the outstanding fishing, boating and recreational manmade lakes in Mississippi. Travelers along the Trace can see an abundance of wildlife living in the vicinity of the reservoir, drawn there for food and water. This is a peaceful ride filled with beautiful sights and scenery.
"Join us next time when we'll ride the parkway along the shore of the reservoir and listen to a selection of RoadMusic® written specifically for a drive along this section of the Trace. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We're traveling the Natchez Trace from Natchez, Mississippi north to Nashville, Tennessee. This was the direction returning Boatman and Kaintucks traveled the old road in the late 1700s and early 1800s after they had floated the produce of their farms in the Ohio River Valley down the Mississippi River to sell in Natchez.
"Today we're visiting a stop along the Trace known as Brashear's Stand, and though you wouldn't realize it driving up from the south this is only about 1/4 mile from a 50 Square mile body of water, the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
"Of course there was no reservoir here in the days of pioneers, but the region was abundant with streams and rivers. We come to an OLD TRACE exhibit just after we cross Brashear's Creek. There's a short loop trail there to let visitors actually walk along a sunken section of the old Natchez Trace at the site of Brashear's Stand, another of the 50 or so inns along the old road. Brashear's Stand was advertised as quote: "A house of entertainment in the wilderness."
"Join us on our next program when we'll travel to the Reservoir Overlook and see the waters of the Pearl River.
"For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"On the parkway just north of Jackson, Mississippi at Ridgeland, is the Mississippi Crafts Center. This is a relatively new development for the Old Natchez Trace. The structure was located on the Natchez Trace Parkway in 1975 by the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi, a non-profit organization of craftsmen and others who want to preserve and promote the folk and traditional, as well as contemporary crafts of Mississippi.
"When you arrive at the crafts center, the first thing you'll notice is that it's housed in a dogtrot cabin, a style common in this area during pioneer days. Inside you'll see art works that are available for purchase. There are traditional basket designs, pottery, weaving, quilting and jewelry created by members of the Choctaw Tribe. There are also works done in more contemporary styles.
"Compared to the long history of the Natchez Trace, the Ridgeland Crafts Center may appear to be only a recent development, but in reality it is like a beautiful wildflower that springs from this rich land, land that has borne the footsteps of so many traditions, so many people, people with common ties to the land. You can see many stories told in the works displayed and for sale at the Crafts Center.
"Join us next time when we'll travel a couple of miles up the road to Brashear's Stand. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today in our journey up the Trace from Natchez we have reached Jackson, Mississippi, an important landmark both in the history of the Trace and the history of early settlers forging out the American Frontier.
"The French Canadian Lewis LeFleur first set up a trading post with the Choctaw Indians near a bluff that overlooked the Pearl River. The post became known as LeFleur's Bluff.
"In the early years of the Mississippi Territory the capitol was located at Washington, Mississippi just north of Natchez. The capitol remained there until 1821 when it was moved to the site of LeFleur's Bluff. This move of the capitol occurred following the 1820 Treaty of Doak's Stand when the Choctaw Indians gave up one third of their land to the United States. Andrew Jackson was head of the United States team negotiating with the Choctaw at Doak's Stand and the new capitol at LeFleur's Bluff was renamed Jackson in his honor.
"Join us next time when we'll journey north of Jackson to the Ridgeland Crafts Center and take a look at the handiwork of the Native Choctaw and other craftsmen of Mississippi. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The next stop along our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee is the exhibit for BATTLE OF RAYMOND.
"Before the time of the American Civil War the Natchez Trace had already lost its use as a national road, so the role it played in the war was a small one. One section that was still used ran between Port Gibson and Jackson. General U. S. Grant was planning his siege of Vicksburg when he crossed the Mississippi River and took Port Gibson in the spring of 1863. Grant marched up the old road with his union army from Port Gibson and on May 8th a Confederate brigade located on the south of Raymond, and commanded by brigadier General John Gregg, fired upon the Union soldiers. The Battle of Raymond lasted a day before the Confederates were forced to retreat to Jackson. This battle convinced Grant that the city of Jackson had to be taken before his siege of Vicksburg.
"Following the Battle of Raymond on May 12th, Grant made his headquarters at Dean's Stand which lies 5 miles to the south of this exhibit.
"Join us next time when we'll visit LeFleur's Bluff, the site of present day Jackson, Mississippi. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are making our way up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee and today we are just a little south of Jackson, Mississippi.
"Along the old Natchez Trace there grew up places to rest and possibly buy provisions. The common term for these hostelries came to be stands. Prior to 1820 there had been as many as 50 of these stands established along the route of this national road between Nashville and Natchez.
"In October of 1820 the Choctaw Indians signed a treaty with the United States, in which the Choctaws gave up a large portion of land on the south and west of their territory. This land was quickly claimed by pioneer families. One such family was William Dean and Margaret his wife. They settled in 1823, and in addition to farming the land, they allowed the travelers and mail riders and boatmen and preachers who came along the old road, to lodge in their house. This stop along the Natchez Trace came to be known as DEAN'S STAND.
"Our next stop along the Trace contains a bit of Civil War history and the Battle of Raymond. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The next point of interest along our trip up the Natchez Trace Parkway is called LOWER CHOCTAW BOUNDARY.
"There's a line of trees there that have been a boundary since 1765. Then a north-south line running through this point and along these trees ran from east of Vicksburg, south as far as the 31st parallel. When you look at an outline of the state of Mississippi it looks a bit like the profile of the head of a worn toothbrush with the bristles facing left. If you look at it that way the 31st parallel runs along the bottom bristles of the toothbrush. This north-south line from up near Vicksburg down to the 31st Parallel marked the eastern boundary of the Old Natchez District. Since 1820 this same line has marked the boundary between Claiborne County and Hinds County in the state of Mississippi.
"Inns along the old road like Mount Locust were called stands, and another stand, was located at this boundary with the Choctaw Indians. This stand was known as Red Bluff Stand, it wasn't as elaborate as Mount Locust, but for several years after it was established in 1802, Red Bluff Stand was the last place travelers heading north could buy provisions.
"Join us next time when we'll learn more about the stands that grew up along the Natchez Trace as we visit Dean's Stand. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we'll visit what was a waterfall at Owens Creek. Rocky Springs and Owens creek are connected by a foot trail 2 1/2 miles in length and they're related to each other by a curious fact.
"When the old national road was active in the early 1800s and before, there were fresh water springs in this area. One spring fed Owens creek and another was known by travelers as "Rocky Springs." Since those days the water table, that's the level of underground water, the water table has fallen and the springs have dried up. So, while this stop is called, Owens Creek Waterfall, there is no waterfall, unless you happen by this spot after a heavy rain. Then for a short time the steam will flow and the waterfall, like some ghost of Rocky Springs, will whisper for a time of things that once were and now lie silent.
"We've made our way over half way now from Natchez, Mississippi up to Jackson. Next time we'll cross what was the early boundary into the lands of the Choctaw Indians. I'm Frank Thomas your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"55 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi is the campground and village site of Rocky Springs.
"A settlement grew up around the spring here in the late 1790s. The town of Rocky Springs prospered during the time of the Old Trace and much later with the population reaching 2600 people. But, like its name, the history of the town was "Rocky." The town and farms suffered during the Civil War, and over a decade later in 1878, it was struck by Yellow Fever. Then in the early 1900s the Boll Weevil attacked and destroyed the cotton crops. Farming also suffered from over a hundred years of neglect and poor land management -- the erosion scars can still be seen in the area today. People left after all that, and during the 1930s the last store here went out of business. Now, even the spring's dried up.
"If you like you may walk a loop trail through the old town site. You'll see all that's left, a brick church and cemetery, a couple of rusty safes and several cisterns. The old Methodist Church was built in 1837 and still holds regular services. Both the church and the cemetery rest on a hilltop overlooking the abandoned town.
"Next time we'll look at a related exhibit, Owens Creek Waterfall. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we'll be looking at Mangum Mound.
"This mound is a burial mound of the Plaque Mine Culture, ancestors of the modern Mississippi and Louisiana tribes, (and there's a close relationship between these mound builders and the Natchez Indians and the builders of EMERALD MOUND. The Indian society here had elaborate religious and agricultural ceremonies. Information gathered from the burials at this site indicate there was a high infant mortality rate, and that the burial ritual at the death of a chief included slaying the chief's servants who were buried with him.
"At this site, important clues have been found that tell the story of people who lived and died here before the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto ever came through this country.
"Artifacts tie these mound builders to a religious cult known today as the Southern Cult. Similar finds of artifacts link this mound to sites in Georgia, northern Alabama, and eastern Oklahoma.
"On our next program we'll journey on up the Trace to the abandoned town site of Rocky Springs. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"A Ford, as you know, is not just a car, it's a place to wade across a stream. The significance of Grindstone Ford is that the water it crosses is Bayou Pierre. The Ford is about 45 miles up the Trace now from Natchez and in the early 1800s when boatmen traveled north out of Natchez to return home after floating their produce down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to sell it at Natchez or New Orleans, crossing Bayou Pierre marked their first actual steps into the wilderness. Up to this point, they'd been in the Old Natchez District, but after crossing the ford, travelers were setting foot into the lands of the Choctaw Indian Nation.
"In 1801 the United States signed treaties with the Choctaw Indians at Fort Adams, which is south of Natchez; and with the Chickasaw Indians at Chickasaw Bluffs, which is now Memphis, Tennessee. These treaties permitted the government to improve the road through the Indian lands.
"There's a trail at this stop that takes you over to the Old Trace and Grindstone Ford, which by the way was named for a water mill that was nearby.
"Join us next time when we'll look at the nearby Indian burial mound, Mangum Mound. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway, north out of Natchez, Mississippi has brought us to a site near Port Gibson, the town U. S. Grant found too beautiful to burn during the civil war. Today's site is called SUNKEN TRACE.
"SUNKEN TRACE is a place you can walk along a section of the old trail and see how the footsteps of animals and people over the centuries have worn their way deep into the loose topsoil deposited here by windstorms hundreds of thousands of years ago.
"If you decide to take a few minutes to walk the Old Trace, you may be fooled by the shadows and the tangle of vines, and roots, and the Spanish Moss that makes beards for the trees, and believe this to be an enchanted forest; but as you walk, try to imagine how the travelers in the early 1800s felt having 500 miles to endure, not knowing if they would survive the swamps, and the heat, and the swollen rivers and streams, the insects, disease, and accidents that lay ahead for them.
"Join us next time when we'll visit Grindstone Ford where early travelers along the Trace took their first steps into the wilderness. This is Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we'll look at the often photographed ruins of the Windsor Plantation house, twelve miles southwest of Port Gibson and lying several miles to the west of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This magnificent Greek Revival plantation home sat high up on a hilltop, overlooking the Mississippi River. It was completed in 1861 just before the outbreak of the Civil War, and during the war between the states, Confederate soldiers used the roof of the mansion as an observation deck. The Windsor plantation house was fortunate to make it though the war intact. But after having survived so much of both the war and the war's aftermath this grand old building was destroyed by fire during a party in 1890.
"What's left for visitors to see today are 23 huge Corinthian columns that reach skyward and speak to the poet's heart in all of those who will take the time to listen and remember. So you see, even a Windsor in ruins is a grand mansion as its eerie columns stand like a ghostly skeleton of the antebellum South.
"Join us next time when we journey on up the parkway to walk through an enchanted forest at SUNKEN TRACE. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Traveling up the Natchez Trace Parkway eighteen miles north of Natchez, Mississippi, we arrive at an exhibit called Bullen Creek. This is the first of many Nature trails along the Natchez Trace Parkway where visitors can take a 15 minute walk that carries them through a Mixed Hardwood-pine forest and a mixed hardwood forest. The Hardwoods and the pines are battling it out, competing for water and sunlight. The tops of the hardwood trees block the sunlight from reaching the forest's floor and seedlings there have to struggle to survive. Pine trees don't tolerate the shade as well as the hardwoods do, so in this battle the hardwoods are winning.
"Between Natchez and Jackson, Mississippi the parkway is at its lowest elevation, which varies between 200 and 300 feet above sea level. Since Natchez, we have been in what is called the Deep South and the climate here is subtropical. There are not only hardwood and pine forests here, but also marshes and cypress swamps. If you travel this portion of the Trace, you'll see Spanish moss hanging like long beards on some of the trees -- treebeards.
"Join us next time when we'll look at the skeletal ruins of the Windsor Plantation. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"We are taking a journey along what was the busiest road in the Old Southwest in the early 1800s, the Natchez Trace. Mount Locust is the sole remaining stand of more than 50 "houses of entertainment" that once thrived along side the old road.
"The original land grant for what became Mount Locust, was made in 1779 by British West Florida to Thomas Harmon who transferred the land to John Blommart, a Swiss-born soldier of fortune who had been a powerful man in Pensacola, the Capitol of British West Florida.
"Also in 1779 Spain went to war with the British and captured Baton Rouge and occupied Natchez. In 1781 the British planned to retake these territories, and commissioned Blommart, then owner of Mount Locust, to lead a revolt in Natchez. Blommart was successful, but the rest of the British plan only ended up losing the capitol, Pensacola, to the Spanish. With no support Blommart surrendered to the Spanish and was later banished from the territory.
"Join us next time when we'll look at something a little different, the first of many informative nature trails along the Natchez Trace Parkway. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"MOUNT LOCUST, is the first site we've visited north of Natchez, Mississippi, that falls into the era of the national road, 1800 to 1820.
"MOUNT LOCUST is one of the oldest structures in the state of Mississippi, possibly dating from 1779. It began as a house; the center room was the first part, built to satisfy the provisions of a British land grant, which required the building of... "One good dwelling house to contain at least twenty feet in length, sixteen feet in breadth."
"William Ferguson married Paulina Burch in 1783 and in 1784 bought Mount Locust and received an additional land grant from the Spanish. In 1801 William Ferguson died and a year later his widow, Paulina, Married James Chamberlain.
"During the years that the Natchez Trace was a National road, the Ferguson-Chamberlain family ran Mount Locust as an Inn where travelers stopped for food and rest. Business was so brisk during that time that behind the house the family built a two-story annex that became known as 'Sleepy Hollow.'
"Next time we'll hear more of the story of Mount Locust. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, A Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"As we continue our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we are now about 12 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi, at an exhibit called LOESS BLUFF.
"Loess, spelled L-O-E-S-S, comes from the German word for "loose." This loose soil was blown from the western plains, by almost endless dust storms, during the last ice age and deposited east of the Mississippi River. Once, the Loess covered a huge area to depths ranging from 30 to 90 feet. What's left now is a strip of soil that extends from Baton Rouge in Louisiana up into the state of Tennessee. The Natchez Trace cuts across the Loess Hills of Mississippi, and in some places has worn into this soil as deep as 20 feet.
"If you visit Loess Bluff you can see how easily this loose soil erodes. Further north along the parkway, at the Sunken Trace exhibit, you can walk the original Trace or ride along it at Rocky Springs. When you see it first hand you'll understand why the soil gave way beneath the migrating herds of Buffalo and countless numbers of human beings over the centuries.
"Next time we'll visit one of the Trace's earliest stands, Mount Locust. This is Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, A Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we'll take a close up look at Emerald Mound, the huge Indian temple mound just north of Natchez, Mississippi. It was built by Indians from the Mississippian Culture.
"On top of the large mound and at the west end, there is a secondary mound. At one time this smaller 30 foot tall mound had a temple on its top and it housed sacred Indian images. There's also a smaller mound located on the east end of the huge platform and there's evidence that from 4 to 6 even smaller mounds once stood along the top sides of the big mound.
"Near the end of the Mississippian era, at the time Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto came through this area in the 1540s, these flat-topped Indian mounds were still being used. The next Europeans came 160 years later when the Frenchman, D'Iberville, claimed the Mississippi Valley for France (this was right about the year 1700). By then, almost all the Mississippian Indian villages had been abandoned. The Indians D'Iberville traded with were the Natchez Indians. The reason the Mississippian decline happened so rapidly is possibly because of disease brought here by DeSoto and his band. The sick and weakened Mississippians were then more easily driven out by other Indian groups and they also fell to internal strife.
"Join us next time when we'll visit LOESS BLUFF. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Just north of Natchez, Mississippi and less than half a mile off the Natchez Trace Parkway is Emerald Mound.
"The Indians who built EMERALD MOUND were from the Mississippian Culture which gets its name because so many of their mounds and villages were located in the Valley of the Mississippi River. Unlike earlier mound builders who built mounds for burial purposes, the Mississippians constructed flat-topped mounds as the centers for their villages, and used them for ceremonial dances, civic processions, games and religious rituals.
"Built between 1250 and 1600 A.D. Emerald Mound is the second largest temple mound in the United States. It's 35 feet high and at the base measures 770 feet by 435 feet, an area of about 9 football fields.
"Tests by archaeologists in 1949 indicate that Emerald mound started as a natural hill top. The Mississippians leveled off the top of the hill and added hundreds of tons of earth from near the base. Using primitive tools, they loaded the dirt into baskets or skins which they carried to build the mound.
"Join us next time when we'll continue our discovery at Emerald Mound. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we set foot onto the Natchez Trace, traveling north out of Natchez, Mississippi as we begin our journey to Nashville, Tennessee. The parkway and Highway 61 run parallel to each other for some distance north of Natchez. You'll be passing by Washington, Mississippi that became the capitol of the Mississippi Territory in 1802. And you'll pass the site of Jefferson College -- although it was named for President Thomas Jefferson, he was never by here to see it. The college opened in 1811. Operations were interrupted in 1863 by the American Civil War. By the way, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America was a student at Jefferson College. After the Civil War this was a preparatory school until it closed in 1964.
"Also in Washington, Mississippi from 1818 until 1845 was the Elizabeth Female Academy, which may have been the first chartered institution of higher education for women in the South. The famed Ornithologist, John James Audubon was on the faculty.
"Join us next time as we continue our journey north from Natchez and visit Emerald Mound, the second largest Indian temple mound in the United States. This is Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Today we start our journey along the Natchez Trace Parkway, beginning in Natchez, Mississippi and heading to the northeast and Nashville, Tennessee.
"On the east bank of the Mississippi River in Natchez there's a large stone marker that stands at the southern terminus of the parkway. Dedicated in 1909, this was the first of many markers placed along the old Natchez Trace by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
"Below this marker is Silver street and what little remains of the notorious "Natchez Under the Hill" which tempted many a "Kaintuck" and "Boatman" in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
"After floating the produce of their farms down the mighty Mississippi and selling it in Natchez, the "Kaintucks" had money in their pockets and safety was a major concern as they prepared to strike out through the Wilderness toward the northeast and home.
"Back up on the bluff, in what is called "Natchez on the Hill," travelers of the Trace would gather at King's Tavern and form groups that would travel together for their protection. King's Tavern is still standing today and is one of the oldest structures in Natchez.
"So rest up! On our next program we'll be setting foot onto the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the beginning of the project to build the Natchez Trace Parkway as part of the National Park System. This road is a pathway through time, a pathway that connects us to our roots. It reaches back trough modern times, back beyond the Civil War, beyond the National Road, beyond The European frontiers and historic Indian tribes, and prehistoric human cultures, beyond even the time of man and the roaming buffalo. Back to geologic times hundreds of thousands and even millions of years ago, because this road, this trail, is a product of nature that grew from the land. Just as the mighty Mississippi was carrying water to the Gulf, the Natchez Trace became a river for man and animals, for life battling the flow of time. When you take this journey back to our very roots, look to the future; you'll begin to see the importance of this trail of human history. The importance that we, like so many others before us, play out our part in this human drama of life on earth.
"The National Park Service has placed exhibits along the Natchez Trace Parkway, and on our next program we will begin an exhibit to exhibit journey up the Trace from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville Tennessee.
"I'm Frank Thomas, and I'll be your guide along the Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"This ancient roadway lost much of its usefulness after the arrival of the steamboats in 1812 and completion of the Jackson Military Road in 1820.
"Though the road began to fade into the shadows of time, it still conjured up vivid images of adventure and peril in the minds of those who had used and survived its ancient steps. This was the era of the road's demise and yet it began to take on a mystique and became known for the first time by the name "Natchez Trace."
"During the 1860s the Civil War raged around the region where the Natchez Trace had been so vital. Although the War Between the States touched many sites along its path, the old road had passed its prime and played no major part in the war itself.
"The old Road was rediscovered around the turn of the 20th Century, and as the ancient history of the road became more popular the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the War of 1812 took on the project of commemorating the frontier people and their travels along the Old Natchez Trace. In the first few decades of the 1900s, these organizations erected monuments in almost all the counties in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee where the old road had passed.
"For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"After 1812 steamboats began to travel up stream against the mighty Mississippi at a speed of 3 miles an hour, and by 1816 powerful steamboats were traveling against the river currents as far north as Louisville, Kentucky. This convenience and speed greatly reduced the number of returning boatmen to travel the "Road to Nashville." Still, the Old Natchez Trace continued as the main land route between Nashville and New Orleans until 1820 when the Jackson Military Road was completed. So, in 1820 the Old Natchez Trace was no longer the major thoroughfare it had once been.
"The period 1820 through 1832 is a shameful time in the Trace's history as the Treaty of Doak's Stand, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and the Treaty of Pontitock Creek forced the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians to give up their tribal homelands, to leave their ancient footsteps. The Indians were banished from their "paradise" to new lands in Oklahoma, west of the Mississippi. This forced exodus of the Indians has become known as the TRAIL OF TEARS .
"Next time we'll look at how the Old Natchez Trace was rediscovered at the turn of the 20th Century. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The Natchez Trace's historical significance to the United States, comes from the fact that in 1801, President Thomas Jefferson decided this 450 mile long section of the old Indian trail from Nashville to Natchez should become a national road for the protection and safety of the new nation. The trail ran through the wilderness, and through lands that belonged to the historic Indian tribes, the Chickasaw and the Choctaw. In 1801 treaties were signed between the United States and these tribes allowing improvements to be made along the road.
"The road was used as a mail route, for troop movements and by pioneers. The postmaster general asked to enlist the service of the army in improving the road. It proved to be too big a job for the army, but by 1803, well over half of the 450 mile long road had been improved. The Old Natchez Trace remained an important national road until 1820 when other roads and steam powered boats plodding up and down the regions vast river system provided quicker, safer and more convenient travel.
"Next time we'll discuss the tragic Indian removal and the 'trail of tears.' For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"In the 1763 Treaty of Paris the British got French lands east of the Mississippi. They called the Natchez Trace "The Path to the Choctaw Nation." The Second Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary war and the British recognized the United States claim to British West Florida which included the Natchez District.
"Commerce established the route for pioneers beginning at about the time the new nation gained its independence from Great Britain. Boatmen who came to be known as "Kaintucks" floated flatboats filled with produce from Tennessee and Kentucky to the Mississippi River and down to Natchez and New Orleans. Some of these "Kaintucks" were simple farmers, looking to sell the products from their farms and others were professional river men.
"From the 1780s through the advent of the steamboat in 1812 was the time known as the "Boatmen's Era." When these boatmen sold their produce in Natchez, they would break up their boats and sell them too, for lumber. Then they'd return home on foot or on horseback by way of the "Road to Nashville" as they called it. This road is what became the Natchez Trace.
"Join us next time when we hear how the young United States made treaties with the Indians allowing the improvement of the ancient pathway. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"After the French and the Choctaw annihilated the Natchez Indians tribe, the few remaining Natchez joined their friends, the Chickasaw.
"The Chickasaw threatened communications between the French settlements in Louisiana and Canada, and they threatened French boats along the Mississippi River. The French joined forces with the Choctaw Indians to fight against the Chickasaw not only wanting to get the escaped Natchez Indians but to destroy the Chickasaw Nation as well.
"When you travel the Natchez Trace you'll hear the story of the Battle of Ackia; it occurred in 1736. Ackia was a Chickasaw Indian Village located in what is present day Tupelo, Mississippi. The French, lead by Bienville, planned to attack the Chickasaw from the south while Pierre d'Artaguette came from Illinois to attack from the north. Bienville was delayed and d'Artaguette encountered the Chickasaw first and was defeated and killed. Two months later Bienville arrived and attacked the Chickasaw not knowing of d'Artaguette's defeat. The Chickasaw then drove the French all the way back to Mobile. After defeat by the Chickasaw Indians, French control in the river valley declined.
"Next time the story of the "Kaintucks" and "Boatmen." For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"D'Iberville reinforced the French claim upon the Mississippi River valley in 1699 by landing along the Gulf Coast and trading with the Natchez Indians. D'Iberville came with his younger brother, Bienville, who founded New Orleans and served as governor of the French province of Louisiana. There was a trading post set up at the Natchez Capitol and later Fort Rosalie was built in 1716.
"In 1724 Bienville was recalled to France, and in 1729 Sieur de Chopart was commander at Fort Rosalie. The Indians heard rumors that the French wanted them to abandon their villages and their land following the orders of Chopart. During the Indian's annual harvest celebration in November of 1729, the Natchez Indians rebelled against the French and massacred practically the entire French Garrison at Fort Rosalie.
"The shocking news soon reached New Orleans. The French immediately and mercilessly annihilated the entire Natchez Indian Nation, only a few survivors escaped up the Old Trace to join their friends in the Chickasaw Nation.
"Join us next time when we'll see how the French pursued the remaining Natchez Indians and planned to attack the Chickasaws. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"By the time the first Europeans made contact in this region the Mississippian Culture was already fading. The Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto made a three year journey through the region with his army from 1539-1541. They crossed the Indian trails and made their way west and became the first Europeans to discover the mighty Mississippi River.
"The declining Mississippian Culture was replaced by the Historic Indian Tribes, the largest three of these in the region were the Chickasaws, in what is now Northern Mississippi and the western part of the state of Tennessee; the Choctaw tribe in central Mississippi and the Natchez tribe in Southern Mississippi. The Natchez Indians were the closest to being direct descendants of the Mississippian Culture.
"Over a hundred years after De Soto died and was buried in the Mississippi River the Frenchmen, Marquette and Joliett, came down the same river from the French settlements in Canada in 1673. They came down as far as the mouth of the Arkansas River. La Salle followed in 1682 and explored the river all the way to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Join us next time when we'll learn of the Natchez massacre at Fort Rosalie. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"8,000 BC, the beginning of the Archaic Period, was marked by men having improved hunting techniques, and fish in their diets and the beginnings of agriculture. The Archaic period lasted about 7,000 years until 1,000 BC, the beginning of the Woodland Period -- the time of the "Mound Builders" who buried their dead under mounds of earth. This culture used bow and arrow and is marked by a greater use of agriculture which caused an increase in village life and the use of pottery.
"By 700 AD the Mississippian Culture covered the region around and along the Mississippi River Valley. This culture built huge mounds as temples. Emerald Mound is the second largest temple mound in the United States, and is one of the stops along the Trace near Natchez. It dates from the Mississippian Period and was built by the Indians of the Mississippian Culture. These Indians also built earthworks to protect their villages. The Mississippian Culture's trade network was elaborate, and the Old Natchez Trace was part of that network. These people had a high degree of organization. They were not primitives.
"Join us next time and witness the decline of the Mississippian Culture as European explorers enter the lower Mississippi River Valley. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"The Natchez Trace's Historical significance to the United States comes from the fact that in 1801 president Thomas Jefferson decided the old Indian trail from Nashville to Natchez should become a national road. Traveling the Trace you'll find that during this national road era the Trace was quite active, and vital to the growth of the young United States in the early 1800s.
"You'll also find the story of this road and the trail which preceded it didn't begin with the United States territories, it didn't even begin with the European explorers and colonists who came hundreds of years before. Even the Indians whose story along the trail reaches back over 10,000 years found animal traces through the woods as they, the first human beings, migrated into this "Paradise."
"The origins of the trail date back into the darkness of prehistory and grew naturally out of the lay of the land. Hundreds of thousands of years ago some of the region's richest soil was carried in by the wind during the last ice age. The greatest hardwood forest in the world grew east of the Mississippi River and extended from the Gulf of Mexico up into Canada. It was home to many species of animals, many now extinct. Buffalo herds lived in the area and it's thought that the origins of the Natchez Trace began as buffalo trails.
"Next time we'll look at the early Indian Cultures that used this ancient road. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"Thomas Jefferson Busby, a Congressman from the state of Mississippi during the Great Depression, introduced a bill on February 15, 1934 calling for a survey of the historic old Indian trail, the Natchez Trace. This was a project to create much needed work and at the same time commemorate an early road from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. May 21, 1934 The Seventy-Third Congress of the United States appropriated $50,000. to make a survey with the idea of constructing what was to become known as the "Natchez Trace Parkway." Four years later, on May 18, 1938 the United States Congress designated the Natchez Trace Parkway to be an official unit of the National Park Service.
"But what was this Natchez Trace, just an old road, an old Indian trail? Well, in the early days of the United States this was a road through the wilderness, a NATIONAL ROAD linking the new nation to its frontier, a frontier that stood beyond the Indian territories, in what is now the southern part of the state of Mississippi. The road spanned the 500 miles between Nashville and Natchez.
"Join us next time when we'll look at the origins of the Natchez Trace in the realm of prehistory. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com
"How would you like to travel along one of the oldest roads in the world?
"It's a long journey -- a journey that reaches back in geologic time where you'll see hundreds of thousands of years of activity during the last ice age as loess the windblown soil carried from far to the west is deposited along the eastern banks of the Mississippi River, and you'll see the beauty of nature springing from its richness.
"It's a long journey -- a journey that spans tens of thousands of years following the beasts of the wilderness and well over 10,000 years of human activity. You'll see Indian temple mounds, and Indian village sites that existed as long ago as 8000 BC and used not just for days or weeks or years. Their use spanned far beyond the decades or the centuries; some of theses sites were occupied by human beings long before the building of the ancient pyramids of Egypt and used over thousands of years.
"It's a long journey -- a journey that will take you through the struggle of a colony to pull itself out of the wilderness to become a great nation.
"In this radio series we'll be taking a look at the history and sights along the Natchez Trace, one of the oldest roads in the world. For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."
For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com