Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi: A wonderful escape from urban hustle of Jackson along an ancient trail steeped in folklore and history

November 23, 2014

Sunken Trace - Natchez Trace Parkway NPS - Mississippi

“I have never been lost but I will admit to being confused for several weeks”

Daniel Boone

In the back country, forests and swamps of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi there is a somewhat forgotten old trail called the “Natchez Trace” that stretched 444 miles from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. Back in the late 1700s and first several decades of the 1800s this “Trace” was heavily traveled by traders, explorers, merchants, emigrants and all types of other travelers. As travel increased along the trace with more Americans and American commerce heading west, in 1801 President Thomas Jefferson decided that an actual road was needed from Nashville to Natchez so the route was a little more formalized but still in most areas just a trail. Most of the travel along the Trace was conducted by “Kaintucks” who would float their goods down the Ohio and Mississippi river systems to the markets in Natchez or New Orleans on flatboats. That made sense going to market but it was a one way ride on the flatboats due to the prevailing currents so the Kaintucks sold their boats at the market along with everything else. Now, the Kaintucks needed to get back home so they followed the Trace starting in Natchez, utilizing any mode of transportation they could secure – wagon, horseback or walking all the way up to Nashville in many cases.

Boyd Mound - Ancient Indian burial site - Natchez Trace, MS

These returning travelers had with them the pay received from selling their goods and many emigrants traveling west had all the valuables they possessed as they were looking for a better life coupled with new opportunity. These facts were well known to scoundrels, brigands, thieves and murderous bandits. In the book “The Devil’s Backbone” author Jonathan Daniels tells the story of the Masons and Harpe Brothers who were some of the most ruthless and sadistic murdering bushwhackers the Trace ever knew. Many an unsuspecting traveler was waylaid by villains such as these men who in the end, met their own just and horrific fate. One legend states that the older of the Harpe brothers was decapitated and his skull nailed to a tree along the Trace to warn others so disposed of the fate they would meet. Must have been a frightening sight to see as you were coming down the Trace. The legends of hauntings, murders and battles abound along the trace as it passes through the traditional homelands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. When I traveled the trace it was a beautiful summer afternoon. I saw the most interesting things such as old Indian burial mounds, cypress swamps, tiny creeks that trickled over ancient limestone shelves in dark hollows and hills of ancient wind deposited loess silt. My favorite spot was the “Sunken Trace” where a short trail leads through the pine forest to a preserved section of the old Trace that is worn fully 20 feet below surrounding grade due to the passing of so much wagon traffic over the soft loess hills. It is dark, damp and silent in the sunken trace. There are large ropey, hairy vines that scale the trees and on the fallen logs communities of delicate fungi grow in white plates and wedges. In the hollow of the sunken Trace it is easy to imagine lurking unseen ambush waiting for the traveler behind the next bend in the forest.

Cypress Swamp not far from Jackson, MS along the Natchez Trace

The names of those who passed this way are ingrained into the history and folklore of our Nation – Hernanodo De Soto, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, Meriwether Lewis and others too numerous to mention. The mystery of the disappeared peoples of the Mound culture Indians and the faint echoes of the Natchez nation can be felt in the trees. I finally arrived at Natchez where I visited “Under the Hill” and I imagined rows of steamboats lined tied up and crowded saloons and gambling games going on all hours of the day. No doubt those lucky enough to win were followed up the Trace and oft times waylaid. The Natchez Trace waned in importance almost overnight as the Steamboats made the return trip up the Mississippi and Ohio River systems possible which was a much safer option for the traveler. The length of the old trace has been preserved today by the National Park Service and it is known as the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a two lane road that is speed limited lower than you would expect as it avoids urban areas so the traveler can enjoy the beautiful forest and scenery and have the feeling of being in the wilds all the way down the Trace. There are handsome waysides with interpretive panels that tell about the rich history of the Trace. It was amazing to me that even where the Trace passed through Jackson, Mississippi which is a rather large town, it still seemed wild and off the beaten path due to the way the interchanges are arranged through that city. If you contemplate traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway you can find more information at the following website:

http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm