October 13 Natchez Trace, History

 October 13, 2020

A cool 52 degrees as we head to a nearby McDonalds for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, and then use the gps to find the start of the Natchez Trace, just south of Nashville. GPS is wonderful most of the time.  Yesterday it took us on a circuitous route, to say the least, to avoid an accident road closure - tiny little winding backroads with a one lane bridge - but probably saved us well over an hour.  Thankfully the 18-wheelers couldn't take our "detour".

The Natchez Trace is a 441 mile long road which follows a trail that has existed for thousands of years, and  holds an incredible amount of history.  It is similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway in that it is closed to commercial traffic, is a nicely paved 2-lane road with a 40-50mph speed limit.  Lots of pull outs, historic plaques, picnic and rest areas.  Instead of mountains, it traverses green rolling hills, going through wooded areas, pastureland, hay and cotton fields, a few rivers and reservoirs, and even some cedar swamps and marshland in the far south.  A beautiful, relaxing drive!

There are many stops and we hit maybe half of them.  Our first stop is at a memorial to soldiers of the war of 1812 who traveled the Trace with Andrew Jackson to the Battle of New Orleans.   You can see the coins, stones, buttons etc. left as a sign of respect or acknowledgment.  Several are buried along the way, along with some civil war soldiers. So many died from wounds and disease - wouldn't it be fascinating to hear their stories in their own words

Next is Gordon House, built in 1817 by a man and his wife who operated a ferry at the Duck River and traded with the Choctaw Tribe.  Again, this would be an interesting story because the man was a soldier and often gone, so the wife oversaw the building of the house.  Shortly after it was completed, he died, so the wife continued to live here - would love to know "the rest of the story".

There are quite a few cyclists on the road, with signs letting drivers know that cyclists should be treated as regular traffic and given an entire lane.  Very little traffic, so a great place to ride! The trees are just beginning to change color here but many fields are golden or dotted with bales of hay.

We stop at Baker Bluff Overlook which overlooks a farm, and has a trail to Jackson Falls. The Falls are in   a deep shady grotto area, but pretty small this time of year.

Surprisingly little wildlife along the way.  This flock of turkeys, lots of turkey vultures and squirrels and that's about it!

Next - yet another waterfalls.

 A short walk to Fall Hollow Falls is the last waterfalls of the trip and not much more than a trickle. Ah, we've been spoiled by North Carolina! No doubt these are more robust in the Spring.

  

Next stop is a cabin where Meriwether Lewis died in 1809.  He was en route to Washington, DC  (going down the Trace to catch a ship) and died rather mysteriously.  Some say suicide, but no one is sure. Another story untold.

We stop at a small town to get gas and go to their visitor's center where we get Alabama and Mississippi roadmaps - just in case.  Two men there tell us we really should visit "The Wall" and tell us the story.  It is just a mile or so off the Trace.  So we go there.

The Wichahpi Stone Wall was built by Tom Hendrix in memory of his great great grandmother Te-lag-ney's journey - first  the forced Indian Removal on the Trail of Tears to an Oklahoma Reservation, and a year later her individual journey back to her homeland. There is a very spiritual feeling here. There are many special rocks, coins and mementos left by visitors. Thousands of stones with no mortar make up the 4-6' tall wall, which winds and twists, like a person's life story.  There is a book called If The Legends Fade about her journey.

Next stop goes way back in history.  The Pharr Mounds are some of several sites along the Trace that date back to between 1 and 200AD.  These are burial mounds of people who had villages nearby.  There is evidence of their travel and trading.  There is quite a network of mounds all over the US - we have visited others in Missouri, Ohio and Louisiana as well as in Canada.  I remember that village near Saint Louis was bigger than the city of London at the comparable time.  A large chunk of history that was never in our History books.  I wonder what their language sounded like!

This is one of 8 mounds here.  Not so impressive to look at, but interesting history.  Below are mounds of a different type - ant hills which are frequent alongside the road.

We stop for the day at the Jeff Busby Campground which is one of several free ones along the Trace.  It is primitive, with only fire rings and picnic tables but nice large sites tucked into hills.  Our picnic table was 25' down a fairly steep hill, so we ignored it.  Washrooms are closed and it is about 1/2 full - all self-contained motorhomes and trailers. We interact with no one.  The entire site seems to be covered in leaves and pine needles, making it very quiet.

Dinner is chicken soup fortified with leftover rotisserie chicken, so it is more like a stew.