Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

It's a Long Journey

"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

Jeff Busby

"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

Origins of the Trace

"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

Archaic Period -- Mississippians

"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

European Contact

"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

Natchez Massacre

"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

Battle of Ackia

"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

 

Kaintucks and Boatmen

"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

National Road Era

"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

Steamboats and 'Trail of Tears'

"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