Natchez Trace Parkway - Part Deux (March 13-14, 2014)

Some History 

Just imagine you are a farmer in the early 1800’s who has been harvesting and preserving your crops and you need a place to sell them.  There isn’t a big population center near you, but you know that the lower Mississippi is a good place to sell your goods.  So you build a wooden flatboat, and load it with your year’s bounty and drift down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and down the Mississippi to Natchez.  There you sell everything, including the timber from your boat.  Carrying your years’ income, you commence the 30+ day, 444 mile walk up the Trace to Nashville TN, and from there to wherever you call home.

This ancient trail used by prehistoric Native Americans and animals has over the years been trampled into a clearly marked path by other travelers. Then in 1801, the US government widened it into a road so that postal riders can carry mail and government documents, thus binding a fractious territory closer to the government.  As thousands of people have walked or ridden on this highway, their feet have worn down the path, so that in places it is a trench through the woods.  

Your way is not necessarily safe.  It goes through the lands of 3 Native American tribes who have an uneasy peace with the white men.  You may travel with other Kaintucks (though you may not actually be from Kentucky) to help protect yourself from bandits.  Every day or so you come to a “Stand” where a settler will sell you a place to sleep and some food.  

Mount Locust - Only Remaining Original "Stand" on the Trace.

Eventually, the riverboat will be invented and travelers will have the option to return North by boat.  The number of travelers along the Trace will dwindle and disappear.  The Trace will be reclaimed in places by nature.  Then in the 1930s efforts will start to revive the memory of the Trace and a beautiful parkway will be built following along its path.

Resources:  
Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway by F. Lynne Bachleda.
Mount Locust Inn and Plantation by National Park Service