Sheboss Place

"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