Chickasaw Agency

"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