Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

Buzzard Roost Spring

"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

Colbert Ferry

"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

John Coffee Memorial Bridge

"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

Rock Spring

"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

Tennessee-Alabama State Line

"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."

Sunken Trace

"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

McGlamery Stand

"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

Annus Mirabilis

"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

Awakening

"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

Sweetwater Branch

"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