Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

Twenty Mile B0ttom Overlook

"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

Donivan Slough

"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

Pharr Mounds

"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

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

"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

Bay Springs Lock and Dam

"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

Tishomingo State Park

"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

Cave Spring

"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

Bear Creek Mound

"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

Mississippi-Alabama State Line

"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

Freedom Hills Overlook

"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