The Natchez Trace Parkway is one of North America’s most historic transportation corridors. First created by migrating herds of animals, the Old Natchez Trace was a footpath used by American Indians and settlers. Widened as a postal route, pioneers and boatmen traveled the Natchez Trace, and now motorists can experience it by driving the Parkway.
The Natchez Trace Parkway is one of North America’s most historic transportation corridors. First created by migrating herds of animals, the Old Natchez Trace was a footpath used by American Indians and settlers. Widened as a postal route, pioneers and boatmen traveled the Natchez Trace, and now motorists can experience it by driving the Parkway.
Today’s visitors use milepost numbers to find their way along the Parkway. Starting at milepost zero in Natchez, Mississippi, the Parkway ends near Nashville, Tennessee at milepost 444. Stops along the Parkway are marked with an arrowhead-shaped wood-routed sign. The circular Parkway logo on the sign shows a silhouette of a post rider passing under moss-laden trees along the Old Natchez Trace.
There are sites linked to 10,000 years of history. Grass covered Indian mounds dot the landscape. Only two stands—inns that provided food and shelter to Natchez Trace travelers—survive from the early 1800s. In several places, the Trail of Tears crosses the Natchez Trace, a result of the federal Indian Removal policy, which forced Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee people from their homelands in the 1830s. Modern travelers pass by farms and fields that continue the agricultural heritage of the region. Short side trips connect with the small towns and cities that preserve the cultural heritage of the three states.
The Parkway also is home to a surprising variety of plants and animals. The southern portion features bayous and swamps in the floodplains of meandering rivers. As the Parkway winds toward the north, the elevation rises, rock outcrops appear, and vast tracts of eastern deciduous forest crowd the roadside.
The Parkway’s scenery also changes with the seasons. In the spring, wildflowers burst into bloom and trees with blossoms of pink and white welcome travelers. The long days of summer provide extra hours for exploring, while crisp fall days highlight changing leaves tinted with vibrant red, yellow, and orange. In the winter, after the trees drop their leaves, open vistas allow visitors to see deep into the forests, and an occasional snowfall quiets the landscape.
For all these reasons, Natchez Trace Parkway is the ideal place to unleash an inner explorer spirit. It welcomes hikers, bicyclists, motorists, horseback riders, and campers. It encourages discovery—whether the mystery of the mounds in Mississippi, the beauty of the waterfalls in Tennessee, a summer rain shower in a cypress swamp, or the muffled quiet as you descend into a leaf-strewn sunken portion of Old Trace—the ancient path that gave the Natchez Trace Parkway its name.
Outdoor exhibits tell some of the stories of these sites along the Natchez Trace. Audio descriptions for over forty outdoor exhibits are organized by milepost number.
“10,000 Years of History,” Old Trace Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 8, Panel A
This exhibit, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, an illustration of a river flatboat, brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway, and three smaller photos with safety messages.
[08A An Introduction to the Natchez Trace Parkway Old Trace Exhibit Shelter]
You are inside an exhibit shelter that has four panels mounted on the back wall. This is the first panel on the left. Parking and the Natchez Trace Parkway are behind you. There are low brick walls along both sides of the shelter. A mowed clearing with several shade trees surrounds the shelter. A forest borders the clearing.
This exhibit, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, an illustration of a river flatboat, brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway, and three smaller photos with safety messages.
[Text] The Natchez Trace Parkway is a gift waiting to be enjoyed. The highway’s graceful curves and lower speeds slow down the pace of daily life.
A sense of discovery replaces everyday concerns. Up ahead, around that bend, nestled in the Parkway’s tunnel of trees are dozens of scenes from 10,000 years of history.
Take time to stop and explore. Rediscover the past. Accept this gift, and meet the people and cultures forever linked to the Natchez Trace.
On the map, the Parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, diagonally across Mississippi and a small corner of northwest Alabama, before continuing to Nashville, Tennessee. You are near the southern end of the Parkway.
[Text] Trails to Trace The Natchez Trace Parkway is the last of many names given to one of North America’s most historic transportation corridors. Each name suggests who traveled this ancient, braided ribbon of trails first created by animals.
Some called portions the Chickasaw Trail or the Path to the Choctaw Nation. In the early 1800s, it became the Boatmen’s Trail and the Mail Road. When trade and travel shifted to river steamboats, sections of the Trace became local roads while others faded into the natural landscape.
There are three photos on this panel. The caption for a photo of a deer says, “Watch for Wildlife.” A second photo shows a driver holding a cell phone with the caption, “Avoid Distracted Driving.” A third photo shows two bicyclists on the Parkway with the caption “Share the Road.”
[Text] Please Travel Safely While traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway, be prepared and aware.
Obey the speed limit, and stay alert.
When you stop along the way, be aware of: · Poison ivy. · Ticks. · Fire ants and · Snakes.
There also is a historical sketch of a flatboat midstream in a wide river. The wood boat is a rectangular raft topped by a cabin and steered by rudders protruding off the back and front. The boat carries about a dozen travelers and a few horses and cattle.
Kaintucks—farmers or boatmen from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys—floated cargoes to market, sold their flatboats as lumber, and walked home along the Natchez Trace.
Trace to Parkway It was local residents who kept the history of the Natchez Trace alive. In the 1930s, their interest in preserving the legacy of the Trace captured the attention of Congress. First, the federal government approved a survey of the meandering path. Then, in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the law creating the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Completed in 2005, the Parkway is the latest chapter in centuries old stories of trade, travel, and homeland. Preserved by the National Park Service, those stories live on. Discover them for yourself.
“Pathway to the Past,” Old Trace Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 8, Panel B
This exhibit, the second from the left in a series of four, is titled “Pathway to the Past.” It has a map of the southern portion of Natchez Trace Parkway and photographs and text that describe four sites along that segment of road.
[08B Featured Site Along the Natchez Trace Parkway Old Trace Exhibit Shelter]
This exhibit, the second from the left in a series of four, is titled “Pathway to the Past.” It has a map of the southern portion of Natchez Trace Parkway and photographs and text that describe four sites along that segment of road.
[Text] The Natchez Trace Parkway makes it easy to explore the past.
The 21st century fades away as you enter a surviving section of the sunken Natchez Trace. Voices of animated conversation echo through the refurnished rooms of the Chamberlain family house at Mount Locust. The sheer size of Emerald Mound suggests the painstaking effort required to build this sacred earth mound. The rise and fall of the village of Rocky Springs mirrors the joy and sadness experienced by communities throughout history.
Take time. Find yourself at one of the Parkway’s portals to the past.
A large map locates opportunities for travelers to enjoy the Parkway and the Parkway’s wider corridor. It shows historical and natural features, rest stops, and campgrounds from the city of Natchez (milepost 0) to just north of Jackson, Mississippi, (milepost 120). You are at milepost 8.
The exhibit highlights four stops with photos and text
Rocky Springs A photo shows a creek meandering through a forest lined with dense green underbrush bordered by contrasting brown leaves. Upstream, a fallen tree spans the creek. Water trickles over a shallow rock ledge.
A victim of several misfortunes, the bustling village of Rocky Springs nearly disappeared. A Parkway campground provides a convenient base for exploration. Walking trails lead into a bygone world overwhelmed by yellow fever, boll weevils, soil erosion, and a dry spring.
Sunken Trace A photo of the Sunken Trace shows a deeply eroded path through a mature forest. The banks along the Trace are taller than an adult. In places, trees and shrubs cling to the eroding sides of the path.
A visit to one of the surviving sections of the sunken Natchez Trace is a special reward. Even a short walk along the eroded trail connects you to nature and conjures images of those who trod this same ancient path.
Mount Locust A photo of the inn at Mount Locust shows the building in profile. It is unpainted except for bright blue shutters on two windows that flank a brick chimney. The elevated one-story building rests about a foot off the ground on wooden posts.
Mount Locust is one of only two surviving stands (inns) that served travelers on the Natchez Trace. Glimpse the world of widow Pauline Chamberlain, her 11 children, and 51 enslaved workers who toiled on her plantation.
Emerald Mound A photo of Emerald Mound shows a flat-topped, eight-acre mound with sloping sides that rise 35 feet above ground level.
A complex society built Emerald Mound, the second largest Mississippian era mound in the US. When you visit, remember that Emerald Mound is not a relic of the past. Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez people still consider this site sacred.
All mound sites are culturally and historically significant and protected by federal law. Please respect them.
“Territorial Lifeline,” Old Trace Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 8, Panel C
This panel, the third of four exhibits, is titled “Territorial Lifeline.” It has a color illustration of a post rider on horseback on a muddy portion of the Old Trace and an 1804 map of postal routes.
This panel, the third of four exhibits, is titled “Territorial Lifeline.” It has a color illustration of a post rider on horseback on a muddy portion of the Old Trace and an 1804 map of postal routes.
[Text] After independence, the United States faced a challenge. Many remote, frontier emigrants lived in the shadow of the French or Spanish empires in North America.
In the Old Southwest, the Jefferson Administration threw a communication lifeline to Natchez, the political and economic capital of the Mississippi Territory. After treaties with the Chickasaw and Choctaw, the federal government sent regular post riders through tribal homelands back and forth between Nashville and the isolated Natchez District.
Natchez Trace post riders traveled alone through dense forest and murky swamps, and braved perilous river crossings. The lifeline they created sustained communication, expanded trade, and solidified ties with a distant, but strategic frontier outpost.
The post rider in the illustration wears a slouch hat that is dripping water. His long coat reaches to his riding boots and has a cape across the shoulders. Leather bags are draped behind his saddle. Water pools along the muddy, sunken trace. On an otherwise gray, sunless day, the trees show a hint of autumn color.
The map outlines the boundaries of the Mississippi Territory created in 1798 east of the Mississippi River and the network of postal routes that, circa 1804, connected the territory with the rest of the United States.
The Natchez District, the political seat of the territory, surrounds the city of Natchez. Yet only one postal road connects Natchez to the rest of the network . The Orleans and Louisiana territories occupy the west bank of the Mississippi River. Spain claimed portions of what is now Florida, Texas, and disputed land on both sides of the Orleans Territory.
The Old Natchez Trace passed through Choctaw and Chickasaw lands to connect the roughly 4,500 settlers in the Natchez District with a wider network of postal roads. Although most post roads ran between cities along the eastern seaboard, a few linked communities—Nashville, Lexington, St. Louis, and Louisville—west of the Appalachian Mountains.
A round logo shows a silhouette of a post rider passing under moss- laden trees somewhere along his 8-12 day journey along the Trace.
There are two other panels to your left and one to your right. Parking and the Parkway are behind you.
“The Hard Trip Home,” Old Trace Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 8, Panel D
The fourth exhibit, titled “The Hard Trip Home,” contains an illustration of nine Trace travelers walking down a trail and wading into swamp water. The Old Natchez Trace goes through the swamp and the trail is flooded. A map shows the route that boatmen and farmers followed down the Mississippi River and then home along Natchez Trace.
The fourth exhibit, titled “The Hard Trip Home,” contains an illustration of nine Trace travelers walking down a trail and wading into swamp water. The Old Natchez Trace goes through the swamp and the trail is flooded. A map shows the route that boatmen and farmers followed down the Mississippi River and then home along Natchez Trace.
[Text] By 1810, most travelers along the Natchez Trace were Kaintucks heading home.
Kaintucks—farmers and boatmen from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys—floated crops and other goods to market in New Orleans or the bustling, edgy river port of Natchez. There, they sold their flatboats as lumber; the boats were useless for traveling upstream against the swift current of the Mississippi.
Now on horseback or foot they faced a 500-mile journey home. Insects and snakes. Rain and mud. Swamps, creeks, and rivers waited to test the bodies and minds of already weary, homesick Kaintucks.
The Kaintucks in the panel illustration have left a dry portion of trail and waded into a cypress swamp partially covered with green algae. An alligator, only head and eyes above water, watches the men pass by.
The first man in the group has water to his waist. He pushes his blanket roll across the swamp on a short log raft. The others carry their belongings under their arms or on their shoulders; their firearms rest on their shoulders or are raised above their heads.
In 1812, Rev. John Johnson recounted his Trace journey:
"I have this day swam my horse five 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.”
A map shows the route followed by Kaintucks between 1785 and 1825. One arrow points south along the Mississippi River, another curves under Natchez to indicate a change in direction, and a third points north along the Natchez Trace toward Nashville.
There are several boundaries shown on the map. Mississippi Territory including the Natchez District and the Chickasaw and Choctaw homelands line the east bank of the Mississippi River, and the Orleans and Louisiana territories the west bank. Most of the land along the Gulf of Mexico is disputed or held by the Spanish.
There are three other exhibits to your left. All of the panels in this shelter have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“A Remarkable Feat,” Emerald Mound, Milepost 10, Panel A
This panel, titled “A Remarkable Feat,” shows an illustration of the plaza during an athletic contest between tribal warriors. Spectators and their leader the Great Sun watch the game.
You are at the base of the eight-acre mound. A flat field atop the mound, the plaza level, is 35 feet above you. A trail to the plaza begins to your left. A smaller mound on one end rises above the plaza level. The parking lot is behind you. There are four exhibits here.
This panel, titled “A Remarkable Feat,” shows an illustration of the plaza during an athletic contest between tribal warriors. Spectators and their leader the Great Sun watch the game. [Text] Around 800 years ago, native peoples in this region began to transform a natural hill into what we call Emerald Mound. They followed a visionary plan and built this flat-topped sacred mound over perhaps 300 years. Covering eight acres, this remarkably engineered mound is the second largest mound structure in the United States. The large rectangular mound once held eight smaller mounds, three along each side of a long plaza plus one at each end. The Great Sun, a semi- divine chief, led from atop the largest of the eight mounds—more than 60 feet above where you are standing. Built along the ancient paths that became known as the Natchez Trace, Emerald Mound was an important ceremonial center for trade, ritual sporting contests, and social, political, and spiritual events. In the painting, the outstretched arms of two players reach for a small ball floating free in the air above their heads. All around them more than a dozen other male players converge on the ball, running, pushing, and shoving into the center of the action. One player has fallen onto the dirt playing field. On the right, two players pause, heads up, eyes on the ball, waiting to see who grabs it.
All the players are bare-chested with bare feet. They wear loincloths and decorative belts. Each is tattooed. Their ears have ear spools or earrings. Some wear armbands or anklets. Most have shaved the sides of their heads leaving only a single strip of dark hair down the middle. Each player has either red or white feathers in his hair. Some have white paint on their face, legs, and torso. Others wear red.
Behind the players, at the end of the plaza, there is a mound with steps that lead to a building at the top. Three bird effigies sit on the thatched roofline, one at each end and another in the center.
Three men stand in front of this building watching the game. All three wear jewelry in their ears, around their necks, wrists, and arms. The clothing they wear around their waists is decorated with colorful, geometric patterns. The central figure, the tallest, stands with his arms crossed over his chest. He wears a feathered robe over his shoulders and a feathered headdress.
On the left of the painting, lining the playing field, there are more than a dozen men, women, and children watching the game. Behind them, others watch from a small mound that holds a wooden structure with a high thatched roof.
Another exhibit is to your right.
“A Well-Organized Society.” Emerald Mound, Milepost 10, Panel B
The Great Sun, the leader of the Natchez people, is the central image on the second exhibit titled “A Well-Organized Society.” In the drawing, shown within a bright orange circle, the Great Sun, a man who wears a circle of vertical feathers on his head, sits under an arched cover on an elevated platform carried by eight men using long poles that rest on their shoulders. The men wear only loin clothes.
The Great Sun, the leader of the Natchez people, is the central image on the second exhibit titled “A Well-Organized Society.” In the drawing, shown within a bright orange circle, the Great Sun, a man who wears a circle of vertical feathers on his head, sits under an arched cover on an elevated platform carried by eight men using long poles that rest on their shoulders. The men wear only loin clothes.
At the bottom of the panel there is a timeline with the dates of American Indian mounds along the Parkway. [Text]
Emerald Mound was the product of a complex society organized to serve and sustain the welfare of its people beginning eight centuries ago. Life revolved around family relationships and well understood rules. An elite family, the Suns, held special status as royalty, and the Great Sun was the highest ranked of all. Although aligned with a deity, the Great Sun’s power rose or fell with the people’s quality of life. Tribal prosperity rested on pooled resources and wise leadership. The elite not only played a ceremonial role in their layered society, they controlled surplus corn, which they shared in times of need. Only powerful leaders could have mustered and inspired the workforce needed for the years of labor that produced Emerald Mound.
In 1758, French naturalist Antoine Le Page du Pratz published his firsthand account of life among the Natchez Indians. This sketch shows the Great Sun, the man Du Pratz called “the sovereign of the nation.” The Natchez people, whose ancestors built this mound, have continued cultural traditions from Emerald Mound’s time.
The timeline begins on the left with the Middle Woodland Period, 200 BCE (before common era). It ends on the right with the Late Mississippian Period, 1600 CE (common era).
Emerald Mound dates from 1250 CE but continued in use into the 1600s. The Natchez people, whose ancestors built this mound, preserve cultural traditions practiced at Emerald Mound. Bynum Mounds are the oldest on the timeline dating to 100 BCE. Construction of Pharr Mounds began around 0 CE. Boyd Mound dates to around 800 CE. Mangum Mound, Bear Creek Mound, and Emerald Mound were built much later and fall into the Mississippian Period.
To the right of the timeline, there is a logo of an American Indian Mound that says “Protect Sacred Sites”
There is a zig-zag split rail fence in front of you. It extends to your left and has a gate to a trail to Emerald Mound’s upper level. The fence continues to your right along the base of the mound.
There is another interpretive panel on your left. A large routed wood sign stands about 15 feet to your right. To your right about 50 feet are two more exhibits with more information about the mound.
“Still Sacred,” Emerald Mound, Milepost 10, Panel C
The grass-covered base of Emerald Mound is in front of you. It stretches a total of 770 feet to your left and right and is 435 feet deep. Many of the trees surrounding the mound have grown taller than the mound itself.
In this pair of exhibits, the first panel, titled “Still Sacred,” shows a brightly colored photo of a Natchez descendant using dance to honor his enduring traditions.
The grass-covered base of Emerald Mound is in front of you. It stretches a total of 770 feet to your left and right and is 435 feet deep. Many of the trees surrounding the mound have grown taller than the mound itself.
In this pair of exhibits, the first panel, titled “Still Sacred,” shows a brightly colored photo of a Natchez descendent using dance to honor his enduring traditions.
[Text] Emerald Mound’s size is impressive. Scholar James Barnett Jr. called it the region’s “crowning mound-building achievement” of the Mississippian era (1,150 to 300 years ago). Only a complex society mobilized for a massive multi-generational project could have built such a large ceremonial center.
But Emerald Mound is not a relic of the past. In the footsteps of their ancestors, the Natchez people—along with others like the Choctaw and Chickasaw—still gather at this sacred site. In a spirit of fellowship, they welcome others who respectfully journey here.
The photo on this panel shows an American Indian man dancing. He wears a shirt decorated with yellow ribbon and bright yellow and red feathers on his shoulders and upper arms. The dancer’s movements animate the feathers. He wears a bright red scarf around his neck and a headdress held in place by a string tied under his chin.
The dancer’s head is slightly elevated, eyes partially closed, brow furrowed. On his raised right arm he wears a turquoise and silver bracelet. He holds a feathered stick in his right hand.
There is another exhibit to your right.
“One Mound Among Many,” Emerald Mound, Milepost 10, Panel D
This exhibit, titled “One Mound Among Many,” contains a map of what is now the eastern part of the United States. The map shows 11 sites that date to the Mississippian Period, between 850 and 1700 CE (common era). There are modern photos of three of the sites.
Emerald Mound, this exhibit, and a zig-zag rail fence are in front of you.
This exhibit, titled “One Mound Among Many,” contains a map of what is now the eastern part of the United States. The map shows 11 sites that date to the Mississippian Period, between 850 and 1700 CE (common era). There are modern photos of three of the sites.
[Text]
Trade, art, and ideas linked Emerald Mound, both physically and spiritually, with mound sites throughout the eastern half of North America. Mound building, as a practice, was widespread. Over thousands of years, the native peoples who built mounds in North America also maintained networks of trade along trails like the Natchez Trace. Trade in raw materials and particularly in fine ceremonial objects was brisk. Artists bartered for items made from shell, copper, feathers, and clay. The symbolic images worn by the elite—winged serpents, panthers, and birds, for example—showed up at sites hundreds of miles apart.
The 11 sites on the map are: Aztalan in Wisconsin; Monks Mound in Illinois; Angel Site in Indiana; Town Creek in North Carolina; Shiloh and Parkin in Tennessee; Spiro in Oklahoma; Etowah and Ocmulgee in Georgia; Moundville in Alabama, and Emerald Mound here.
A photo of Monks Mound shows an aerial view of a high, flat-top mound that is the largest earthwork in the US built before Europeans arrived. It is part of the Cahokia complex of 120 mounds on 3,800 acres. A second photo shows Etowah from ground level. Etowah is the most intact, flat-top Mississippian Period cultural site in the southeastern US. The third photo is an aerial view of Moundville. With 29 mounds covering 185 acres, Moundville was one of the most important American Indian sites in the southeastern US. The mound in the photo has steps to a flat plaza and pitched roof structure. Another exhibit is immediately to your left. Two more exhibits are 50 feet to your left. Parking is behind you. A trail to the upper level of the mound is to your left. All four of the exhibit panels here at Emerald Mound have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Enduring Symbols,” Mangum Mound, Milepost 45
This exhibit, titled “Enduring Symbols,” faces Mangum Mound. An illustration shows a male American Indian artisan creating a ceremonial copper object. The meaning, beautiful detail, and expert craftsmanship of objects like the one he is crafting continue to inspire artisans today.
This exhibit, titled “Enduring Symbols,” faces Mangum Mound. An illustration shows a male American Indian artisan creating a ceremonial copper object. The meaning, beautiful detail, and expert craftsmanship of objects like the one he is crafting continue to inspire artisans today. At the bottom of this panel there is a timeline that shows the age of Indian mounds along Natchez Trace Parkway. You are behind a split rail fence. The mound in front of you is covered with native grasses. It slopes upward to a height of 11 feet on the right. The winding entry road to the cul de sac and parking behind you passed agricultural fields and curves under the Parkway. [Text]
The history of Mangum Mound illustrates how symbols common to many sacred sites continue to inspire artists today. During the Mississippian period, when native peoples transformed this natural hillside into a sacred mound, artisans throughout the region adorned ceremonial objects with both realistic and abstract images. Snakes, eyes, and birds became symbols of spiritual beliefs. Modern Choctaw artists continue to blend traditional materials with ancient designs. In fabric, pottery, shells, and copper, centuries-old culture not only survives, it flourishes. The artisan in the illustration kneels next to a fire contained by round rocks. He holds a wooden pole attached to a ceremonial object that glows orange. The object is a large copper birdman figure roughly the size of a person’s face. The artisan wears a loincloth. He has tattoos—lines and elongated triangles—on his legs, arms, and shoulders. He wears a copper spool in his earlobe, a necklace, and bracelets. The sides of his head are shaved leaving just a circular cap of hair tied up. A log and bone tools sit next to the fire. A small photo on the panel shows a carved winged birdman statue created by a contemporary Choctaw artist. The heroic, winged birdman appears on objects associated with Mangum Mound and contemporary Choctaw art. The timeline at the bottom of the panel begins on the left with the Middle Woodland Period, 200 BCE (before common era). It ends on the right with the Late Mississippian Period, 1600 CE (common era).
Mangum Mound dates to 950 CE. Mangum and Emerald mounds, began around 1250 CE, and remained active into the 1600s. Along with Bear Creek Mound, they date to the Mississippian Period.
Bynum Mounds are the oldest on the timeline; they date to 100 BCE. Construction of Pharr Mounds began around 0 CE, Boyd Mound around 800 CE. A “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian mound is to the right of the timeline.
The exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Two Mounds Become One,” Boyd Mound, Milepost 106
This exhibit, titled “Two Mounds Become One,” shows a color drawing of a male mound-builder, and a diagram with a mound cross-section. The diagram shows the first two mounds built here and how they were joined into the third, larger mound that is visible today. With each basket of dirt, the people who built Boyd Mound honored their family members and traditions. A timeline at the bottom of the panel dates the mounds located along Natchez Trace Parkway.
The elongated, grass-covered mound that sits in a clearing in front of you, surrounded by trees, is 4 feet high, 110 feet long, and 60 feet wide. The path to parking and the entry cul de sac is behind you. This exhibit, titled “Two Mounds Become One,” shows a color drawing of a male mound-builder, and a diagram with a mound cross-section. The diagram shows the first two mounds built here and how they were joined into the third, larger mound that is visible today. With each basket of dirt, the people who built Boyd Mound honored their family members and traditions. A timeline at the bottom of the panel dates the mounds located along Natchez Trace Parkway. [Text]
Boyd Mound, though understated in appearance now, hides an unexpected secret. It started as two mounds, built separately by people who continued a tradition that was fading in most of this area. Many years later, just as mound building was returning to cultural favor, an additional mound was built over the top, connecting the original two. This mound represents both the continuation and rebirth of traditional spiritual practices. After the 1830s, erosion and farming whittled the mound down to its current size. As a tangible link to their ancestors and traditions, Boyd Mound remains sacred to the Choctaw and other tribal nations.
In the illustration, the man leans slightly forward carrying a woven dirt- filled basket on his back. The basket reaches from his shoulders to his waist. The basket has a geometric pattern of diagonal lines. Smaller on the bottom, it flares out midway up the man’s back. One strap goes over the man’s shoulder and around his chest. Another crosses the top of his head.
The mound-builder wears his hair with a topknot held in place by a red band. He wears a deerskin loincloth, stone necklace, wristband with a raccoon face, and fur garters just below his knees. His body glistens with perspiration.
Boyd Mound is near the middle of the timeline at the bottom of the panel; it dates to 800 CE during the Late Woodland Period.
Bynum Mounds are the oldest on the timeline; they date to 100 BCE. Construction of Pharr Mounds began around 0 CE.
Mangum Mound dates to 950 CE and Emerald Mound 1250 CE. Mangum, Bear Creek, and Emerald mounds were constructed and in use during the Mississippian Period. A “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian mound is to the right of the timeline. The exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
This exhibit, titled “Broken Promises,” features an illustration of a group of Choctaw walking in the snow, away from their Eastern homeland. A map shows the lands ceded by treaties, and a photograph of a commemoration of Choctaw removal.
The route the Choctaw took is in the distance, beyond the panel. The landscape is now mixed forest and fields.
This exhibit, titled “Broken Promises,” features an illustration of a group of Choctaw walking in the snow, away from their Eastern homeland. A map shows the lands ceded by treaties, and a photograph of a commemoration of Choctaw removal. The route the Choctaw took is in the distance, beyond the panel. The landscape is now mixed forest and fields.
[Text] After 1800, treaties between the Choctaw and the US government whittled away tribal rights and lands.
Finally, in 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was negotiated at a council house near this spot. All the remaining Choctaw homeland— nearly 10.5 million acres—was taken.
From 1831 through 1834, thousands of Choctaw trekked over 500 miles to “Indian Territory.” The US War Department had promised in 1830 to “be kind and brotherly to them…to furnish them with ample corn and beef, or pork for themselves and their families.”
Instead, the Choctaw had inadequate clothing and supplies. Heavy rain, blizzard-like snowfall, and a shortage of wagons turned the forced removal deadly.
On the map, Choctaw land is flanked by the Mississippi River on the west and extends into portions of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Natchez Trace runs northeast to southwest across the Choctaw homeland to the port of Natchez on the Mississippi River. Treaties in 1801, 1802, 1805, 1816, and 1820 took two thirds of the Choctaw homeland. The 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek took the remainder. You are standing along the Natchez Trace in the Choctaw’s land ceded in 1820.
[Text] Choctaw artist Gwen Coleman Lester captures the harsh conditions and tribal determination to survive at the core of Choctaw removal. In her painting, the Choctaw, most staring ahead, walk forward on snow-covered ground. They are wrapped in blankets, and wear moccasins. Leafless trees surround them. A man in front uses a walking stick. To the left of the man, a child carries a bundle on its back. To the right, a woman with down turned eyes holds a baby in a blanket. Two uniformed soldiers on horseback watch the Choctaw pass by.
The group stretches across a creek in the distance. At the back, livestock pull wagons. A photo shows a uniformed honor guard leading a crowd down a paved road. The honor guards wear red berets. Two carry flags and two have shouldered rifles. The day is bright and sunny. The trees are in full leaf.
[Text] Tribal members from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma walk each year to memorialize their ancestors who survived and perished on the Trail of Tears.
The exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
Several yards to your right, there is a group of three, routed wood signs with more information about the Choctaw homeland and treaties.
“10,000 Years of History,” Highway 82 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 204, Panel A
This panel, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, three smaller photos with safety messages, an illustration of a river flatboat, and brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway.
You are inside an exhibit shelter that has four panels mounted on the back wall. This is the first panel on the left. The Parkway is to your left. The access road and parking are behind you. There are low brick walls along both sides of the shelter. A mowed clearing surrounds the shelter. A thin forest borders the clearing.
This panel, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, three smaller photos with safety messages, an illustration of a river flatboat, and brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway.
[Text] The Natchez Trace Parkway is a gift waiting to be enjoyed. The highway’s graceful curves and lower speeds slow down the pace of daily life.
A sense of discovery replaces everyday concerns. Up ahead, around that bend, nestled in the Parkway’s tunnel of trees are dozens of scenes from 10,000 years of history.
Take time to stop and explore. Rediscover the past. Accept this gift, and meet the people and cultures forever linked to the Natchez Trace. There also are three photos on this panel. The caption for a photo of a deer says, “Watch for Wildlife.” A second photo shows a driver holding a cell phone with the caption, “Avoid Distracted Driving.” A third photo shows two bicyclists with the caption “Share the Road.”
[Text] Please Travel Safely While traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway, be prepared and aware.
Obey the speed limit, and stay alert.
When you stop along the way, be aware of: · Poison ivy. · Ticks. · Fire ants and · Snakes.
On the map, the Parkway runs from Natchez, Mississsippi on the Mississippi River diagonally across Mississippi and a small corner of northwest Alabama, before continuing to Nashville, Tennessee. You are at milepost 204, just south of Tupelo, nearly midway along the Parkway,
[Text] Trails to Trace The Natchez Trace Parkway is the last of many names given to one of North America’s most historic transportation corridors. Each name suggests who traveled this ancient, braided ribbon of trails first created by animals.
Some called portions the Chickasaw Trail or the Path to the Choctaw Nation. In the early 1800s, it became the Boatmen’s Trail and the Mail Road. When trade and travel shifted to river steamboats, sections of the Trace became local roads while others faded into the natural landscape.
There is a historical sketch of a flatboat midstream in a wide river. The wood boat is a rectangular raft topped by a cabin and steered by rudders protruding off the back and front. The boat carries a dozen travelers and a few horses and cattle.
[Text] Kaintucks—farmers or boatmen from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys—floated cargoes to market, sold their flatboats as lumber, and walked home along the Natchez Trace.
Trace to Parkway It was local residents who kept the history of the Natchez Trace alive. In the 1930s, their interest in preserving the legacy of the Trace captured the attention of Congress. First, the federal government approved a survey of the meandering path. Then, in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the law creating the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Completed in 2005, the Parkway is the latest chapter in centuries old stories of trade, travel, and homeland. Preserved by the National Park Service, those stories live on. Discover them for yourself.
“Connect Past and Present,” Highway 82 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 204, Panel B
The second of four, this exhibit, titled “Connect Past and Present,” has a map of the middle portion of Natchez Trace Parkway and photographs and text that describe four sites along that segment of road.
The second of four, this exhibit, titled “Connect Past and Present,” has a map of the middle portion of Natchez Trace Parkway and photographs and text that describe four sites along that segment of road.
[Text] A journey along the Parkway is more than a trip from one place to another. Attentive travelers will find enduring links between past and present.
The park website, brochures, and the visitors center in Tupelo can help you tailor your visit to your interests and available time. There are campgrounds, picnic areas, and miles of trails. One short trail leads to the graves of 13 Confederate soldiers, their names lost but their sacrifice remembered.
Another trail leads uphill to one of the highest points on the Parkway, with vistas overlooking the forests and farms that still define rural Mississippi. The earth mounds along the Natchez Trace, thousands of years old, remain culturally and historically significant to modern Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. They are protected by federal law. Please respect them. The panel map locates opportunities for travelers to enjoy the Parkway and the Parkway’s wider corridor. It shows historical and natural features, rest stops, and campgrounds from milepost 160 north of Jackson to milepost 280 north of Tupelo, Mississippi. You are at milepost 204.
The panel highlights four stops with photos and text.
Confederate Grave Sites and Old Trace Thirteen Confederate graves and stone markers stand silently along this remnant of the Natchez Trace. These unknown soldiers are among thousands who died and were buried in Mississippi during the Civil War.
A photo shows a pale gray, stone tombstone with flowers around the base. The stone has straight sides and curved top. It is engraved with a cross inside a circle—the Confederate Cross of Honor—and the words “Unknown” and “Confederate Soldier.”
Chickasaw Village Another photo shows a curved path bordered by mowed grass. Along the path there is a round sign with an illustration of a Chickasaw winter home. For several hundred years, beginning in the 1500s, many Chickasaw lived in villages like the one that occupied this site. Visit here, and explore the ancestral homeland of the Chickasaw people.
Bynum Mounds Two thousand years ago, Bynum Mounds anchored the spiritual and physical lives of a Middle Woodland period village. These dome-shaped burial mounds remain sacred today.
The third photo shows two adjacent, grass-covered, round-top mounds with mature trees in the background.
Jeff Busby
This area is named to honor Jeff Busby, the Mississippi congressman who shepherded a bill through Congress authorizing a survey of the Natchez Trace. Hike or drive from the campground and picnic area to one of the highest point along the Parkway.
The fourth photo shows a family walking along a road in autumn. On one side is a split rail fence; a forest on the other. In the background, a large recreational vehicle is parked just off the road.
There is another exhibit to your left and two others to your right. The Parkway is to your left. Highway 82 is beyond this shelter and a thin grove of trees.
“Champions of the Trace,” Highway 82 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 204, Panel C
Advocates of Natchez Trace Parkway, gathered around a shrouded commemorative marker during a public unveiling, provide the central image on this exhibit titled “Champions of the Trace.” The text focuses on the creation and early history of Natchez Trace Parkway. Along the panel’s right edge, there is an illustrated timeline with significant dates in Parkway history.
Advocates of Natchez Trace Parkway, gathered around a shrouded commemorative marker during a public unveiling, provide the central image on this exhibit titled “Champions of the Trace.” The text focuses on the creation and early history of Natchez Trace Parkway. Along the panel’s right edge, there is an illustrated timeline with significant dates in Parkway history.
[Text] In the early 1900s, a group of women mounted a long, sophisticated, yet homespun campaign to create the Natchez Trace Parkway. They focused on two goals: to memorialize the Natchez Trace and build a modern parkway along its route.
Success came gradually. Led by Elizabeth Jones, Mississippi’s Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) began placing commemorative markers along the Trace.
In the 1930s, the politically savvy Roane Fleming Byrnes and members of the Natchez Trace Association joined the effort. As Byrnes recalls, she used “meatloaf and moonshine” to court allies that included US Congressman Jeff Busby. It was Busby who introduced a successful bill to survey the Natchez Trace, the first step in creating the Parkway. Although the last section of the Natchez Trace Parkway was completed in 2005, the National Park Service and its partners continue to protect the Parkway today.
The illustration shows seven smiling, adult white women and one man posed next to a chest-high stone marker. The man and a woman hold the ends of a cloth draped on the ground in front of the marker. The marker is light gray with roughly chiseled edges. On the front, there is an inscription and an early 1900s DAR logo.
The women vary in age but all wear hats, mostly wide brimmed, and more formal clothing—waistcoats, long dresses, jewelry, and gloves.
There is a group of over a dozen spectators facing the memorial. Most are men dressed in suits and a variety of hats—caps, fedoras, and bowlers.
The stone marker sits in a mowed grassy area with trees in the distant background.
[Text] Timeline: 1908 The DAR began placing granite markers along the route of the Natchez Trace. A photo shows a granite, DAR commemorative marker.
[Text] 1916 A “Pave the Trace” campaign proposed an improved highway along the Trace.
1934 The Natchez Trace Association organized to memorialize Trace history.
Congress approved a survey of the Trace route.
A photo shows a two-story building with Greek revival columns supporting a porch. Flags hang from the second floor balcony. An elevated platform in front of the building is draped with bunting. Several individuals stand atop the platform while others stand on the lawn, on the building’s front steps, and on the porch.
[Text] Elizabeth Jones and Roane Fleming Byrnes at a Natchez Trace Association gathering.
A photo shows Elizabeth Jones and Roane Fleming Byrnes seated behind a table in front of a flag-draped memorial. Both older white women are smiling. Jones wears a fur coat and pillbox hat. Byrnes has a large broach pinned to her coat lapel. Other members of the Natchez Trace Association gather around and look toward the camera.
[Text] 1938 Congress created the Natchez Trace Parkway as part of the National Park Service.
There are two other exhibits to your left, and one to your right.
"Enough To Keep You Busy For Life," Highway 82 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 204, panel D
This is the last of four exhibits. The title for this panel, “Enough to keep you busy for life,” is a quotation about the Natchez Trace from Eudora Welty, author, Mississippi native, and Pulitzer Prize winner. The panel illustration shows a variety of habitats along the Parkway’s corridor and plants and animals that live along the highway.
This is the last of four exhibits. The title for this panel, “Enough to keep you busy for life,” is a quotation about the Natchez Trace from Eudora Welty, author, Mississippi native, and Pulitzer Prize winner. The panel illustration shows a variety of habitats along the Parkway’s corridor and plants and animals that live along the highway.
You are standing inside an exhibit shelter that has four interpretive panels mounted on the back wall. This is the farthest panel to the right.
[Text]
The Natchez Trace provides plenty to explore. A narrow strip of only 800 feet wide is home to a surprising variety of plants and animals.
Dozens of mammal species share the Parkway with countless insects and more than a hundred species of birds, reptiles, and amphibians,
The illustration shows a condensed version of a variety of habitats, including pine forest, cypress swamp, mixed hardwood forest, wetlands sheltered by moss laden trees, and rich fertile prairie. In the foreground a raccoon, one foot in the water, watches a crayfish on the bottom of a natural pond. Two fish swim away. There is a bed of mussels tucked into a corner of the shallow water. Pendant yellow flowers sit atop the slender stems of yellow trout lilies. Pink buds accent the mottled leaves of a cluster of pink trillium plants. One of three wild turkeys, head low to the ground, approaches a sprawling bed of lavender woodland phlox. In a small roadside clearing a female white-tailed deer munches on low hanging leaves, her speckled fawn at her side. A flowering dogwood blooms—wispy white flowers cluster on branches stemming from a delicate trunk. The blossoms of a redbud tree add a flash of bright pink to the roadside. Across the Parkway, a great blue heron wades in a wetland. A red-tailed hawk soars overhead.
All of the panels in this shelter have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
"Life Near Bynum Mounds," Bynum Mounds, Milepost 232, Panel A
The first of three in this exhibit shelter, this exhibit, titled “Life Near the Mounds,” features a color image of American Indian village life near Bynum Mounds on a sunny autumn day.
The first of three in this exhibit shelter, this exhibit, titled “Life Near the Mounds,” features a color image of American Indian village life near Bynum Mounds on a sunny autumn day.
[Text] Bynum Mounds anchored the spiritual and physical lives of a Middle Woodland era village two thousand years ago.
Six mounds, including these two, were and remain sacred sites.
In the right foreground of the illustration, three women sitting on mats make pottery in the shade of a thatched building. One rolls coils of clay. Another uses the coils to make a large pot. The third holds a pot and paddle. A young girl sits holding a ball of clay. Some completed pots sit nearby. Behind them, and to the left, a woman carries a pot toward an open fire tended by another woman. A half dozen glowing pots sit on embers in the open flames.
Behind the women making pottery, two women on mats weave baskets in the shadow of a second thatched building. Beyond them, a woman and child work in a vegetable patch. Two young men carry pots. One balances a wooden pole on his left shoulder. A pot hangs from ropes attached at each end of the pole. With his right hand, he holds another pot that the smaller boy also carries. To the left, A man carries a deer with the help of another man not in the image on a long pole that is suspended between them. A dog walks next to him. Behind him in the background, a group of men gather in the shade of a tree. Behind them, another villager works on an animal hide stretched on a frame. In the background a person carries a bundle of poles on their back.
The thatched roofs of the structures on both sides of the illustration are steep and pointed. Wooden stakes interwoven with twigs and small branches make up the round outer walls.
In the far background, two grass-covered mounds rise in front of a forested tree line.
This is one of three exhibits under a roofed shelter. The shelter sits near the edge of a clearing about one third of the way along a ¼-mile loop trail that begins and ends at a parking lot to your left. The trail continues toward two conical, grass-covered mounds. The mound on the left is slightly larger, rising 14 feet above the ground. From the mounds, the trail circles back to the parking lot. There is forest along the right side of the trail and behind the mounds. A half dozen mature trees shade the clearing. The other two panels are on shelter walls behind you to your left and right.
All three exhibit panel have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Characteristics of Woodland Life,” Bynum Mounds, Milepsot 232, Panel B
The second of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Characteristics of Woodland Life,” features a portion of the full American Indian village scene on the panel to your left. A timeline at the bottom of the panel dates the mounds located along the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The second of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Characteristics of Woodland Life,” features a portion of the full American Indian village scene on the panel to your left. A timeline at the bottom of the panel dates the mounds located along the Natchez Trace Parkway. [Text] Life at Bynum Mounds was typical of the Woodland period, the time between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago. Small-scale gardening, mound building, semi-permanent villages, and pottery each influenced and reinforced Woodland culture.
There is additional text explaining these four characteristics of Woodland life.
Mounds: Mound building began as a result of more organized spirituality.
Gardens: Villagers planted grains, beans, and squash in small plots.
Pottery: Widespread use of pottery for cooking and storage marked the era. Potters created designs and patterns by pressing fabric and cord to the outside of wet pots. Villages: People lived in semi-permanent villages. They still moved from place to place, but less often.
In the village scene, three women sitting on mats complete the steps in making pots—one rolls coils of clay, another shapes the coils into a pot, another smooths a pot and adds decoration with a paddle. Behind the potters, two women sit on mats weaving large storage baskets. Beyond them a dog stands outside a garden plot tended by a woman and child. On the right side of the painting are two round houses with tall, conical, thatched roofs. There is a single, grass-covered mound in the background backed by forest.
At the bottom of the panel, the timeline shows the dates of the mounds located along the Parkway. Bynum Mounds, the oldest mounds along the Parkway, were in use during the Middle Woodland Period for around 200 years from 100 BCE (before common era) to 100 CE (common era).
Construction of Pharr Mounds began around 0 CE, and Boyd Mound around 800 CE. Mangum, Bear Creek, and Emerald mounds were built much later and all fall into the Mississippian Period. Mangum and Emerald mounds remained active into the 1600s.
A “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian Mound is to the right of the timeline. There is another panel behind you on the opposite wall of the shelter and one to your left.
“Elements of Exchange,” Bynum Mounds, Milepost 232, Panel C
The last of three exhibits inside this shelter, this panel, titled “Elements of Exchange,” includes a map of the locations of 10 mounds sites and the approximate boundaries of the 22 Hopewellian trade cultures. The area includes much of the United States east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachian Mountains. The map reaches as far north as southern Canada and as far south as Florida.
The last of three exhibits inside this shelter, this panel, titled “Elements of Exchange,” includes a map of the locations of 10 mounds sites and the approximate boundaries of the 22 Hopewellian trade cultures. The area includes much of the United States east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachian Mountains. The map reaches as far north as southern Canada and as far south as Florida.
[Text] Many Woodland era villages, like the one that flourished here, used trade goods from thousands of miles away.
Chert hand tools made their way from quarries in Illinois to villages in the Southeast. Travelers from Alabama offered fine, polished greenstone celts—axes—not for use in the fields but for ceremonies.
Villagers added to their status by bartering for decorative items. Copper deposits, perhaps from as far away as Lake Superior, provided a source for ear spools worn as jewelry. Mica from North Carolina. Marine shells from the Gulf of Mexico. All moved along ancient trade routes, including the Natchez Trace, tucked protectively in the packs of travelers. The boundaries of each trade culture on the map are irregularly shaped. They vary in size. Some cultures overlap.
You are at Bynum Mounds. Bynum and Pharr mounds are within the boundaries of the Miller Culture.
One of largest cultures—the Ohio Hopewell—occupied what is now southwestern Pennsylvania, most of Ohio, and portions of West Virginia and Kentucky. The map shows three mound sites inside the borders of this culture: the Adena/Hopewell site, Mound City, and Tremper Mound.
Kolomoki Mound is within the Swift Creek Culture, the largest in the Southeast. It covers eastern Alabama, most of Georgia, and northern Florida.
On the left of the panel are photographs of three items traded across cultures. The first is a highly polished, dark green, mottled, ceremonial stone axe. It is oblong, one end is narrower than the other, but not severely pointed.
The second is a chunkey stone used for a traditional tribal game. It is a round and slightly concave light-brown stone with a hole in the center.
The third is a round copper ear spool worn by both men and women to reflect their social status. The spool is concave and has a green and silver patina. There is a small hole in its center.
There are two other exhibit panels in this shelter. The shelter sits about one third of the way along a ¼-mile loop trail that begins and ends at a parking lot to your left. The trail continues toward two conical, grass- covered mounds. A fourth panel that explains the connections that modern Chickasaw have with these sacred homeland sites is along the sidewalk at the parking lot.
“Enduring Heritage,” Bynum Mounds, Milepost 232, Panel D
This exhibit, titled “Enduring Heritage,” shows a contemporary color photograph of seven Chickasaw college students during a visit to Bear Creek Mound, one of several mounds along the Parkway within the Chickasaw’s ancestral homelands. The grass-covered mound is behind them. Three students stand, three sit on the grass, and one kneels as they look toward a speaker on the right.
This exhibit, titled “Enduring Heritage,” shows a contemporary color photograph of seven Chickasaw college students during a visit to Bear Creek Mound, one of several mounds along the Parkway within the Chickasaw’s ancestral homelands. The grass-covered mound is behind them. Three students stand, three sit on the grass, and one kneels as they look toward a speaker on the right.
As Chickasaw Nation Tribal Anthropologist LaDonna Brown talks to the students, she gestures with open, out-reached hands. The panel contains a quotation from her: “Being a modern Chickasaw . . . and knowing that the mounds and this civilization were created by my ancestors . . . it gives us a sense of belonging.”
A “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian Mound is to the right of the panel title.
[Text]
The spirit of Bynum Mounds remains strong. Over a span of more than 2,000 years, native people have felt a powerful bond with this culturally significant site. Scholars may research the origin and meanings of these enduring places, but each location has a quiet spiritual aura that survives the passage of millennia. Descendants of the mound builders, like the Chickasaw, still return here to their homeland to reconnect with their culture and ancestors.
All natural and cultural resources along the Natchez Trace Parkway are protected by federal law.
This panel is adjacent to Bynum Mounds parking lot. A loop trail to a shelter with three exhibit panels begins to your right. The 1/4–mile trail continues around a mowed field dotted with a handful of mature trees. There are two round, grass-covered mounds 2/3rds of the way around the trail.
“Rather Than Submit,” Chickasaw Council House, Milepost 251
This exhibit, titled “Rather Than Submit,” contains an illustration of the inside of a council house during the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. A map shows the homelands the Chickasaw ceded by four treaties in the early 1800s.
This exhibit, titled “Rather Than Submit,” contains an illustration of the inside of a council house during the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. A map shows the homelands the Chickasaw ceded by four treaties in the early 1800s. [Text]
By the 1830s, westward expansion and the imposing US government made life for the Chickasaw living here increasingly oppressive. Settlers encroached on Chickasaw land. State officials ignored tribal laws and enforced state laws. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 made tribal relocation official US policy. In 1832, Chickasaw leaders and US officials met for days at a council house along Pontotoc Creek near here. Determined to negotiate the best terms possible, Chickasaw leaders discussed removal terms with General John Coffee, US Commissioner. After the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was signed, six million acres of Chickasaw Homeland were exchanged for an equal amount of land in Indian Territory plus the proceeds from the sale of their eastern lands. But in the process, the Chickasaw gained more control over how they would move west. The illustration shows the council house during treaty negotiations. Eleven men sit or stand around a table in the center of the image. The table is strewn with papers, inkwells, and pens. Four US government representatives on the right wear trousers, dark jackets with tails, white shirts, and ties. Seven Chickasaw on the left, all standing, wear feathered turbans, loose fitting, colorful shirts, leggings, and knee-high moccasins. Most wear peace medals or gorgets. One of the Chickasaw holds a sheet of paper and a pen. Across the table, a US negotiator gestures with the palms of both hands up. The walls of the round building are posts set into the ground. The thatched roof is steeply pitched and supported by two wood poles. Indian shields, pipes, corn, and a basket, hang from the poles. Five spears rest against the right pole Six Chickasaw, some carrying shields and weapons, stand along the right wall; five American men sit on rough-hewn log benches along the left. One man stands. There is an American flag on a pole in the background. The illustration says Pontotoc Creek Treaty, Chickasaw Council House, October 20, 1832, in the bottom left corner. Martha Ann S. Sheffield signed in the right. A quotation from the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek says:
Being ignorant of the language and laws of the white man, they cannot understand or obey them. Rather than submit to this great evil, they prefer to seek a home in the west. The map shows that, before removal, the Chickasaw homeland covered one third of northern Mississippi. The Chickasaw ceded over half of their homeland in 1805, 1816, and 1818, and the remainder in 1832. Land ceded by the Pontotoc Creek Treaty is dark red.
The Natchez Trace ran from northeast to southwest through Chickasaw land. You are facing a clearing with scattered trees backed by a forest. Parking and the Parkway are behind you. There is picnic area and a routed wood sign with more information to your right. A council house was located in what is now a wooded area on the opposite side of the Parkway. The exhibit has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“A Risky Welcome,” Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261, Panel A
This is the first of five exhibits in this exhibit shelter. The large illustration on this panel shows a group of Natchez approaching a Chickasaw village. The panel title is “A Risky Welcome.”
This is the first of five exhibits in this exhibit shelter. The large illustration on this panel shows a group of Natchez approaching a Chickasaw village. The panel title is “A Risky Welcome.”
[Text] For several decades, the Chickasaw village here existed in an unstable world of colonial and intertribal war.
Amid everyday life, Chickasaw men gathered before a hunt. Artisans worked clay into pots, reeds into baskets, and tree trunks into canoes. Women cooked food over hot coals. Stickball challenged the athletic men near the cornfields chilled by winter. But amid the routine of everyday life, the sturdy logs of a stockade fort suggested the conflicts that threatened the Chickasaw.
In the early 1730s, villagers faced hard decisions. Chickasaw leaders carefully weighed their desire to help the Natchez and their need to survive among encroaching European forces. The Chickasaw chose to shelter the Natchez, even though it would likely provoke the French.
At the left of the illustration, a group of 14 Natchez approach the village on foot. The men carry weapons, the women carry the groups’ belongings in their arms and on their backs. A dog pulls a loaded sled.
The Natchez leader, dressed in a full-length animal skin robe, approaches four Chickasaw men.
The Chickasaw man in the front wears a knee-length turkey feather cape. His arms are bent at his sides with his palms facing up. Behind him, one of the men crosses his arms across his chest. The other two men carry muskets. Two dogs run toward the Natchez.
On the right side of the panel, there are Chickasaw engaged in daily activities. Many look at or gesture toward the approaching Natchez including three men in the right foreground. They carry muskets and wear earrings, loincloths, and moccasins. Portions of their faces are painted red. Two wear long shirts. The other is shirtless, has a tattooed back and arms, and wears leggings. Behind this group, kneeling women prepare food under an arbor. In the background, another group of men use fire to make a canoe from a thick log. Smoke billows into the air.
Behind the Chickasaw there is a wood palisade higher than the head of a rider seated on a horse. The illustration shows thatched-roofed shelters and homes around the fort and in the far background across the ridgeline. There are birdlike ornaments on the rooftops. Behind the approaching Natchez, there is a harvested cornfield.
The site of the Chickasaw village is in front of you. A walkway connects the pavilion with the site of a round winter home. The outlines of a fortification, a rectangular summer home, and another winter home are located beyond the winter home.
The panel contains a “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian mound.
There are four other exhibit panels on the interior walls of this shelter.
“Shelter from Weather and War,” Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261, Panel B
The second of five exhibits, this panel, titled “Shelter from Weather and War,” describes some of the characteristics of a Chickasaw village, including the appearance of typical houses. It is located on one wall of the site’s exhibit shelter. There are four more interpretive panels inside this shelter, one to your right on this same wall, two behind you on the opposite wall, and one free-standing panel to your left. The site of the Chickasaw Village also is to your left.
The second of five exhibits, this panel, titled “Shelter from Weather and War,” describes some of the characteristics of a Chickasaw village, including the appearance of typical houses. It is located on one wall of the site’s exhibit shelter. There are four more interpretive panels inside this shelter, one to your right on this same wall, two behind you on the opposite wall, and one free-standing panel to your left. The site of the Chickasaw Village also is to your left.
[Text] Both nature and culture influenced the Chickasaw village that stood here.
The Chickasaw people generally built on ridge lines. Large villages might stretch out of sight along the horizon. Buildings were arranged in sight of one another for safety.
Round houses, used in winter, had vertical posts interwoven with cane and plastered mud for warmth. A low, curved, narrow entryway kept out the cold. Rectangular houses, used in summer, had openings at each roof peak to allow cooling breezes to circulate. Thatched roofs provided shelter from rain and sun.
Symbolic of troubled times, a fort made of wooden posts protected village residents during enemy attacks.
A large photograph shows two reconstructed village structures located at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Oklahoma.
On the left side of the photo there is a circular winter house made from closely placed wooden poles taller than an adult. It has a conical roof supported in the center by thick posts. A carved bird sits at the peak of the roof. The other building is for food storage. It is a small, rectangular structure raised several feet above the ground on wooden poles. There is a ladder to a door. The sides are vertically set poles; the roof is pitched.
The second image is an illustration of a Chickasaw village. It shows six structures in a clearing. In the foreground there is a rectangular summer home and a round winter home with grass thatched roofs. There are two other rectangular summer homes along the right and a round winter home in the background. None of these buildings have windows.
A rectangular fortification sits in the center of the drawing. The two fort entrances, located on opposite walls, have no doors. They are gaps protected by overlapping palisades. There is a planted field in the top right of the illustration. Villagers move about attending to daily chores.
A quotation from James Adair’s History of the American Indians, published in 1775 describes a Chickasaw village. [Text] The Indians settle themselves in towns or villages after an easy manner; the houses are not too close to incommode one another, nor too far distant for social defense.
“Chickasaw Homeland,” Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261, Panel C
The third of five panels, this exhibit, titled “Chickasaw Homeland,” has two maps that show the waterways, the boundaries of Chickasaw land, and Chickasaw village sites in this portion of Mississippi in the 1700s.
The larger map shows the size of the Chickasaw homeland in dark red— it includes northern Mississippi and smaller sections of western Kentucky, west central Tennessee, and north west Alabama. This village site is located along the Natchez Trace towards the southern boundary. The western boundary is defined by the Mississippi River. Nashville is just outside the northern boundary. Most of the northern half of the Natchez Trace runs from northeast to southwest through the Chickasaw homeland.
The third of five panels, this exhibit, titled “Chickasaw Homeland,” has two maps that show the waterways, the boundaries of Chickasaw land, and Chickasaw village sites in this portion of Mississippi in the 1700s.
The larger map shows the size of the Chickasaw homeland in dark red— it includes northern Mississippi and smaller sections of western Kentucky, west central Tennessee, and north west Alabama. This village site is located along the Natchez Trace towards the southern boundary. The western boundary is defined by the Mississippi River. Nashville is just outside the northern boundary. Most of the northern half of the Natchez Trace runs from northeast to southwest through the Chickasaw homeland.
[Text] Since the 1500s, many Chickasaw people lived in villages like this one. Their lifestyle evolved to match local conditions. They took advantage of the rich, black, prairie soils of the region to plant acres of corn, beans, and squash. Nearby springs and creeks provided dependable water year round. Trails, like the Natchez Trace, connected individual groups and clusters of villages. Trade routes, following a network of traces, stretched for hundreds of miles, helping sustain the vitality of Chickasaw culture. Within their traditional homeland, the Chickasaw shifted settlement locations, sometimes for better defense. Over generations, their warriors and fortified villages earned a reputation as unconquerable. The Chickasaw population in the 1700s varied from 2,000 to 5,000 and the smaller map shows a cluster of four Chickasaw village sites that existed at that time. The thin, elongated sites are nestled between creeks that flow from northwest to southeast. Village locations changed over time, but never moved far from trade routes like the Natchez Trace. The map, modified from James Barnett’s Mississippi’s American Indians, shows that after the 1720s, the Chickasaw abandoned two village locations and moved to the northeast to Big Town and Long Town. Big Town is to the northwest of the Old Trace, and Long Town to the southeast. A “you are here” arrow points to a spot near the Trace along the edge of Big Town.
A quotation from Chickasaw: Unconquered and Unconquerable by Jeannie Barbour says: [Text] An ever-enduring feature of the Chickasaw homelands is its numerous traces. These nine-thousand-year-old lifelines wind back and forth across the length and breadth of the old Chickasaw countryside. The most famous trace is the Natchez.
There is another exhibit on the wall to your left.
“Shifting Alliances,” Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261, Panel D
The fourth of five exhibits here, this panel, titled “Shifting Alliances,” shows hundreds of Chickasaw men, women, and children gathered on a riverbank engaged in trading and social interaction. It features an illustration by Tom Phillips called “Chickasaw Bluffs Trade Fair.”
The fourth of five exhibits here, this panel, titled “Shifting Alliances,” shows hundreds of Chickasaw men, women, and children gathered on a riverbank engaged in trading and social interaction. It features an illustration by Tom Phillips called “Chickasaw Bluffs Trade Fair.”
[Text] The arrival of Europeans in America reshuffled ancient trading patterns that had linked diverse American Indian cultures for centuries. Horses provided transportation and advanced warfare. The firearms that the Chickasaw acquired from the British gave them an advantage in intertribal conflicts. The location of the Chickasaw homeland along the Mississippi River allowed the tribe to influence European and tribal commerce. As adept traders and warriors, the Chickasaw carefully weighed their options in this evolving colonial world. From about 1720 to 1760, most Chickasaw sided with the English, while the Choctaw aligned with the French.
In the illustration the riverbank is lined with beached dugout canoes and a variety of trade goods—furs, plain and decorated pottery, gourds, squash, and pumpkins. A woman wearing a fringed dress, necklace, and armband holds a gray pot with geometric design. She wears her hair in a bun held in place with a long pin. A woman with a baby in a wrap on her back holds a woven basket filled with pumpkins, gourds, and vegetables. A girl next to her carries a basket of vegetables. Two men, one carrying a shield and quiver of arrows, tattoos on his face and torso, examine furs. Like others in the painting, the men are bare-chested. They wear loin cloths, feathers in their hair, necklaces, and ear ornaments. More Chickasaw are arriving by canoes decorated with geometric patterns. Dozens of others, many carrying baskets with produce on their backs, emerge from a forest trail. Two women hug one another, Children in loincloths run and play, two women sit on an outspread fur with their infants. Some groups gather around campfires. A few dogs roam among the people. A high, eroded bluff in the background confines the river to its channel.
There is one more panel on the wall to your right
“Ancestral Homeland,” Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261, Panel E
The last of five exhibits, this panel, titled “Ancestral Homeland,” contains a photo of LaDonna Brown, Tribal Anthropologist for the Chickasaw Nation, and a greeting from the Chickasaw.
The last of five exhibits, this panel, titled “Ancestral Homeland,” contains a photo of LaDonna Brown, Tribal Anthropologist for the Chickasaw Nation, and a greeting from the Chickasaw.
Chokma! Welcome to the historic homeland of the Chickasaw Nation— home of our ancestors and the land we frequently return to for relaxation, rejuvenation, and remembering.”
[Text] Chickasaw still regard this as their traditional home. They honor their life on this land by continuing practices that shaped daily life and Chickasaw culture over centuries.
Neither forced removal nor the passage of time has diminished the hold that this homeland has on the hearts and minds of the Chickasaw.
In the panel photo, LaDonna Brown smiles broadly. She has a round face and wears her wavy brown hair shoulder length. Her dress is pale pink adorned with ruffles, ribbons, and appliqued Chickasaw boy and girl figures with hair in long braids, turquoise and bright pink shirts, and black skirts and pants. Dresses like this are worn by Chickasaw women for ceremonial occasions. Ms Brown also wears moccasins, a handmade pink, white and green finger woven belt, a cloth bag over her shoulder resting on her hip, beaded earrings and bracelet, silver and shell bracelet, and turquoise and silver ring. Around her neck she wears an inscribed shell pendant and small blue and white beaded leather pouch.
All five of the exhibit panels at this location have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway. There is another panel to your left, two on the shelter’s opposite wall, and a panel that overlooks the village site to your right. A concrete sidewalk leads to the outline of a winter house.
Also from this location, you can hike the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail through the Blackland Prairie to a southern terminus at West Jackson Street or hike north to Old Town and then to the Parkway Visitor Center.
“Trade From Afar,” Pharr Mounds, Milepost 286, Panel A
This exhibit, titled “Trade From Afar,” overlooks a 90-acre site that includes Pharr Mounds. A color illustration shows trading activities, and a large, open field dotted with village structures, villagers, a dog, and several distant mounds.
This exhibit, titled “Trade From Afar,” overlooks a 90-acre site that includes Pharr Mounds. A color illustration shows trading activities, and a large, open field dotted with village structures, villagers, a dog, and several distant mounds.
The first of three exhibits, located in an exhibit shelter, faces the view pictured in the illustration. The closest of six visible mounds is 900 feet away, about three football fields. The tallest two mounds are 18 feet high.
[Text] Around 2,000 to 1,800 years ago native people built Pharr Mounds, a complex of eight dome-shaped mounds spread over 90 acres.
One of the largest Middle Woodland era mound sites in the region, Pharr Mounds was near a sizeable village. The people there attracted trade for everyday items and ceremonial objects.
A vast trading network stretched from the southeastern US to the shores of Lake Ontario. Over hundreds of linked trails, objects of copper, mica, greenstone, and shell found their way to Pharr Mounds. People from smaller local villages then came here to obtain exotic goods.
In the foreground of the painting, five American Indian men look at trade goods underneath an open shelter with a wood-beamed ceiling. Two men stand facing each other. The man on the left has tattooed lines on his chest, arms, and thighs. He wears a loincloth, shell bead bracelet, and a spool in his ear lobe. His right hand rests on his hip. His left hand rests on the side of his head. He looks at a decorative object held by the man standing opposite him. It is a larger-then-life stone hand in a frame. The second man wears a loincloth, shell bead bracelets, armband, beaded necklace, and earrings. Tattooed lines circle his legs. His hair is pulled up at the front and back of his head.
On the right of the painting, three tattoed men huddle over trade goods displayed on mats. The objects include necklaces and earspools, an s- shaped stone serpent, cutting tools, a copper bird, and a red effigy pipe shaped like a frog. On the ground, lay clay pots of various sizes and shapes, stone or bone beads, chunkey stones, and shell pendants. .
In the background, villagers walk on pathways. Farther in the distance, in front of the tree line, are a cluster of village buildings and three, packed earth mounds.
A “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an Indian Mound follows the panel’s title. [Text] All natural and cultural resources along the Natchez Trace Parkway are protected by federal law.
Two more exhibits are to your right.
“Objects and Ideas,” Pharr Mounds, Milepost 286, Panel B
The second of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Objects and Ideas,” has a map of a portion of the eastern United States. It shows the locations of 11 mound sites and the boundaries of 14 Hopewellian trade cultures.
Along with the map there are color photos of four trade items and a timeline that shows the age of mounds along the Parkway.
The second of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Objects and Ideas,” has a map of a portion of the eastern United States. It shows the locations of 11 mound sites and the boundaries of 14 Hopewellian trade cultures. Along with the map there are color photos of four trade items and a timeline that shows the age of mounds along the Parkway.
[Text] People from the Woodland era created some of the finest crafts and artwork in North America. For inspiration, they turned to the natural world and their understanding of the universe. The objects they created in metal, stone, and shell were prized from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Since many of the traded objects had a spiritual meaning or were linked to religious ceremonies, it is clear that ideas traveled with trade. Though there were local variations, American Indians throughout today’s eastern US understood and related to the imagery skillfully applied to pipes, jewelry, fabrics, and pottery. The trade cultures on the map stretch from southern Pennsylvania to the Gulf of Mexico, from the eastern edge of the Great Plains to the Appalachian Mountains, and from east Texas across the panhandle of Florida and Georgia to the coast. The culture boundaries are irregular and vary in size.
Both Pharr Mounds where you are, and Bynum mounds, also along the Natchez Trace Parkway, are within the Miller Culture.
The Marksville Culture covers Louisiana and southwest Mississippi including the lower portion of the Old Natchez Trace.
There are two photographs of trade items on the right side of the panel. There is a clay effigy pipe, associated with Mound City in southern Ohio, that is shaped like a prairie chicken. The pipe is yellow/orange with a slightly arched rectangular platform.
Below the pipe there is a photo of an incised, earthy red pottery jar from the Marksville Culture. It flares to its widest diameter midway between top and bottom, has an upturned curved lip, and a bulbous base.
Two other photos located in the bottom left corner of the map show objects associated with Pharr Mounds. One is a dark red platform pipe, and the other a coiled, reddish-brown pottery jar that is narrow at the base and lip with a decorative band around the middle.
The timeline shows that construction of Pharr Mounds began in the Middle Woodland Period around 0 CE (common era). Occupation lasted around 200 years. Boyd Mound dates to around 800 CE. Mangum, Bear Creek, and Emerald mounds were built much later during the Mississippian Period.
Bynum Mounds, the oldest along the Parkway date to 100 BCE (before common era).
There is a “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian Mound to the right of the timeline.
A third exhibit is to your right.
“Going Home,” Pharr Mounds, Milepost 286, Panel C
The last of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Going Home” has a large photo of a profile of a modern Chickasaw man, text, and a quotation.
The last of three exhibits, this panel, titled “Going Home” has a large photo of a profile of a modern Chickasaw man, text, and a quotation.
[Text] Like the native peoples who lived near Pharr Mounds, cultures around the world and across time built monuments and lasting memorials. Mounds like these are some of the earliest remaining monuments in North America. Skillfully designed and built, these mounds are a source of wonder and pride. Spiritually enduring, they become the cornerstones of civic and religious ceremonies and rituals. Modern Chickasaw feel a strong bond with Pharr Mounds and consider them sacred. Many return here as part of a pilgrimage to their ancestral homeland. Kirk Perry, Executive Officer for Historic Preservation, Chickasaw Nation said I am astounded by the levels of science, of spirituality, and of community and organization evident in the creation and existence of Pharr Mounds and how it related to the larger region. I am proud of my ancestors. The man’s face is in profile. His brown eyes gaze off into the distance. He wears a light blue shirt with a collar. His hair is wavy, graying on top and around the temples. His face bears the wrinkles of maturity.
There are two other exhibits in the shelter to your left. All of the exhibit panels have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
Farther to your right are restrooms, picnic tables, and a routed wood exhibit with more information.
“Tears to Triumph,” Cave Spring, Milepost 308.4
In the illustration on this exhibit, titled “Tears to Triumph,” a Chickasaw wagon train moves west toward Oklahoma during Indian Removal.
In the illustration on this exhibit, titled “Tears to Triumph,” a Chickasaw wagon train moves west toward Oklahoma during Indian Removal.
[Text] In the 1830s, the US policy of Indian Removal forced the Chickasaw to leave their homeland. One of their trails to “Indian Territory” crossed the Natchez Trace just south of here.
Although they had negotiated greater control over their forced removal than other tribes, nothing changed the Chickasaw’s profound loss.
Yet, they refused to be victims. Instead they called upon their warrior traditions during the long, sometimes deadly journey west. The Chickasaw paid their own way, chose their route, and brought their belongings. Resettled, they successfully rebuilt their nation, while maintaining ties to their ancestral homelands.
You are looking across an open field toward the route taken by the Chickasaw wagons. The removal party passed from left to right.
In the illustration, two Chickasaw riders, a man and woman, gallop into view from the left. Their horses have harnesses accented with brass and silver. The man’s cloth headpiece and a blanket around his waist billow behind him. His shirt is yellow with vertical red stripes. His multiple necklaces bounce on his chest. He wears a wide dark red cloth sash and blue leggings. The woman, dressed in a feathered bonnet, dark dress with puffed sleeves, ornamented bodice, and large necklace, rides sidesaddle.
Behind the riders, a wagon train crosses a shallow creek and continues toward the horizon on the right of the painting. The sky is brightening below clouds. The oxen-pulled wagons are mostly covered with canvas over hoops, although some household furnishings—chairs and bureaus—are visible. Chickasaw men, women, and children walk or ride horses while dogs run alongside. The women and girls all wear long dresses with aprons or shawls, braided hair, and earrings. Some of the men wear hunting frocks, turbans, and leggings while others wear European-style jackets, trousers and top hats.
In 2014, Chickasaw student Micah Hart said: We weren’t just leaving our homelands, we were leaving the Old Ones behind as well. Who would take care of them? It was a responsibility our people had honored for hundreds of years.”
The Parkway and entry road are to your left. The walkway to parking is behind you. There is a trail from the parking area to Cave Spring. A routed wood sign has information about the spring. This exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Centuries of Use,” Bear Creek Mound, Milepost 308.8
The exhibit, titled “Centuries of Use,” contains a drawing that illustrates the long history of American Indian occupation of the Bear Creek Mound site. It shows the mound, a Mississippian Period village, and illustrations of the natural conditions that attracted Paleo people 8,000 years before mound building began at this location.
Bear Creek Mound sits in a grassy, mowed field. It has steep sloped sides, is eight to ten feet high, and covers 86 square feet. There is a wooded ravine that runs from your left around the far side of the mound.
The exhibit, titled “Centuries of Use,” contains a drawing that illustrates the long history of American Indian occupation of the Bear Creek Mound site. It shows the mound, a Mississippian Period village, and illustrations of the natural conditions that attracted Paleo people 8,000 years before mound building began at this location.
A timeline at the bottom shows the age of mounds along the Natchez Trace Parkway.
[Text] Bear Creek Mound reminds us of the rich physical and spiritual resources that attracted people to this site for thousands of years. Bear Creek acted as an early highway that allowed people in dugout canoes to travel hundreds of miles. The creek supported ample fish and plant life, and large animals came to its banks to drink. Food and tools were plentiful. Nearby Cave Spring was, and still is, considered pure and sacred.
When mound building began along Bear Creek around 900 years ago, this site already had been used by semi- sedentary groups for thousands of years. Typical of a Mississippian period village, a ceremonial building sat on Bear Creek’s flat top, providing a focus for spiritual life.
Bear Creek meanders across the width of the color illustration. The area is woodland although there is one clearing with two round, thatched huts from the Paleo period and another with a larger, later Mississippian settlement around Bear Creek Mound. The Mississippian Period buildings are rectangular, clustered inside a wood palisade. Four Paleo men launch canoes into the creek and a Paleo man in a loincloth holds a forked spear ready to strike fish in the stream.
The illustration includes wildlife, like white-tailed deer, mussels, an eagle, and a longnose garfish. Highlighted vegetation includes rivercane and smartweed.
Cave Spring is shown in the bottom left corner of the drawing.
In the timeline, Bear Creek Mound dates from 1100 CE (common era) to around 1300 CE. Occupation extended from the end of the Early Mississippian Period into the beginning of the Late Mississippian Period.
Earlier mounds along the Parkway include Bynum Mounds from 100 BCE (before common era) to 100 CE, Pharr Mounds from 0 CE to 200 CE, Boyd Mound from 800 CE to 1100 CE, and Mangum Mound from 950 CE to 1600 CE.
There is a “Protect Sacred Sites” logo of an American Indian Mound to the right of the timeline.
This exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Something to Chew On,” Buzzard Roost Spring, Milepost 320, Panel A
The illustration on this exhibit, titled “Something to Chew On,” shows Levi Colbert’s inn and the varied activities that made his stand one of the landmarks along the Old Natchez Trace.
The illustration on this exhibit, titled “Something to Chew On,” shows Levi Colbert’s inn and the varied activities that made his stand one of the landmarks along the Old Natchez Trace.
[Text] Inns, or stands, provided occasional shelter for travelers along the Natchez Trace. These stands offered food to eat and food for thought: local news, information, and ideas. The ever-changing mix of diverse populations—whites, American Indians, African Americans—interacted at stands on a regular basis.
Already a Chickasaw leader and successful businessman, Levi Colbert enhanced his influence with a stand that he owned and operated here at Buzzard Roost Spring. Trace travelers no doubt talked about Levi’s stand. It was nicer than most, and offered respite from the miles of footsteps that defined a Trace journey.
The illustration shows a white two-story building with clapboard siding, wood shake roof, and two stone chimneys. Under a porch across the first floor of the building there are two windows flanking a single door. The second floor has two windows with shutters. A man in a knee- length blue coat and top hat leans against a porch post, a cat at his feet. A woman churns butter in the shade of the porch. A horse is tied nearby.
There are several rustic, unpainted, wood outbuildings around this central structure. A woman of African descent feeds chickens near a corncrib. Two men with hoes pause to talk while two travelers on horseback approach from the Natchez Trace. A drover herds cattle in the background.
A Chickasaw man and woman walk up the dirt path toward the inn. He is dressed in a blue-fringed tunic, ornamental cloth belt with a geometric design, red leggings, and red turban. He wears his hair loose and long, midway down his back. The woman smiles at the man. She has her hand in the crook of his arm. Her full-length skirt, waist-length tunic, and scarf are various shades of blue. She has long braids and wears several, dangling turquoise earrings.
There is a zig-zag split rail fence along the right side of the path. A Chickasaw man and woman, hats on their heads, hoe rows of garden vegetables. A woman with an infant strapped to her back with a blanket harvests pole beans, filling a basket at her feet. There are orchard trees beyond the garden.
Colbert’s inn would have been a short walk up the gradual, mowed slope to your right. You are standing at the end of the walkway adjacent to parking. The entry cul de sac is to your right. The area is mowed except for a few mature trees. A forest surrounds the site. There is another exhibit panel behind you and a path and stairs down to Buzzard Spring Roost. The path and stairs are not accessible.
“Bridging Cultures,” Buzzard Roost Spring, Milepost 320, Panel B
This exhibit, titled “Bridging Cultures,” contains a black and white portrait of Levi Colbert. Colbert’s reputation as a skilled negotiator earned him entrée into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2012.
This exhibit, titled “Bridging Cultures,” contains a black and white portrait of Levi Colbert. Colbert’s reputation as a skilled negotiator earned him entrée into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2012.
[Text] Here, near the bubbling water of Buzzard Roost Spring, Levi Colbert (Itawamba Minko, “Bench Chief”) built one of the many inns—called stands—along the Natchez Trace.
But it was Colbert’s negotiating and language skills that sustained him as a tribal leader. Bilingual, with a Scottish father and Chickasaw mother, he took advantage of opportunities in both cultures.
Across several decades, Colbert sat among the Chickasaw during treaty talks. Using his knowledge of both white and Chickasaw society, he protected both the Chickasaw homeland and his own interests.
A dogged negotiator, at the time of his death in 1834, Colbert was trying to amend an 1832 treaty to gain better terms for the Chickasaw people.
In the detailed charcoal portrait, Colbert is dressed in a high collar shirt and jacket. The jacket has two vertical rows of metal buttons. A ribbon around his neck holds a large peace medal. The peace medal is embossed with a man’s head. A crescent shaped gorget, suspended from a chain, hangs below the medal.
Colbert’s head is bald except for long dark hair that circles the back of his head from temple to temple and down to his collar. He wears a metal hoop earring in his right ear lobe. His left ear is not seen. He has full lips and a dimpled chin. His eyes are focused over the viewer’s right shoulder.
The area in front of you is mowed with trees and a ravine in the background. There is a path to your left and steps that lead into the ravine and Buzzard Roost Spring. The path and stairs are not accessible.
Both of the exhibit panels at this site have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Trace Travelers,” Colbert Ferry, Milepost 327, Panel A
The illustration on this exhibit, titled “Trace Travelers,” captures the moment when five southbound Chickasaw men pass six white travelers on the northbound leg of their journey home.
The illustration on this exhibit, titled “Trace Travelers,” captures the moment when five southbound Chickasaw men pass six white travelers on the northbound leg of their journey home. [Text]
Frontier America once walked along the Natchez Trace.
The Chickasaw and Choctaw used the Trace for transportation and trade. After 1801, with tribal permission, post riders who rode the Trace connected isolated settlements in Mississippi and beyond. Boatmen or farmers, known as Kaintucks, floated their products down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to market in Natchez, Mississippi. Then they sold their flatboats as lumber and walked home along the Trace. On foot, the 500-mile trip took about 35 days. By 1810, occasional travel had turned into a human flood; up to 10,000 Kaintucks passed along the well- trodden path each year. During the War of 1812, the Trace became a road for American armies marching to and from battle. Steamboats—powerful enough to sail up the Mississippi River—stemmed the tide of Trace use. This exhibit panel is located at a rest stop surrounded by mature forest. Parking is behind you and the walk in front of you leads to restrooms. There are picnic tables in a grove of mature evergreens to your left. The network of roads at this stop leads to several other exhibit panels.
The 11 travelers in the illustration walk along a trail through an old- growth forest; some tree trunks are as wide as any one of the travelers is tall. The forest canopy allows only dappled sunlight to reach the trail.
The Chickasaw wear refined brightly colored clothing, red and blue tunics, leggings, and feathered plumed turbans. Two men have military- style clothing with braiding on the cuff or across the chest. One wears a fringed hunting coat that reaches his calves. Another has a thigh-length jacket made from a patterned European fabric.
The Chickasaw carry weapons—three have muskets and two carry bows. One man has a quiver on his back and a bag with geometric designs slung over his shoulder. A knife is tucked into a sash around one man’s waist, another has a tomahawk.
All wear ornaments. Two wear silver armbands. The uncovered arm of the tall Chickasaw man in the lead is tattooed. He wears a bracelet and armband. His leggings have decorative garters just below the knee. The moccasins on several men have colorful geometric patterns. All wear their hair long and have earrings.
The six white men walking from right to left are Kaintucks dressed in a variety of well-worn slouch hats, loose fitting shirts, and pants. Their clothes are ripped, torn, or frayed. One man wears a blue and white checked shirt and another has striped trousers.
All carry muskets or rifles with packs or rolled blankets on their backs. A tin cup dangles from the pack of one Kaintuck. Another has tucked a hatchet in his belt. A leather pouch with a shoulder strap sits on the hip of the last man in the group. Unshaven, their beards are red, brown, and mixed with gray. Their eyes are on the five Chickasaw walking in the opposite direction.
A flock of Carolina parakeets flies above the travelers’ heads. The birds have bright red around their eyes and yellow around their necks. Their bodies are vibrant green.
This exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Safe Crossings,” Colbert Ferry, Milepost 327, Panel B
This exhibit, titled “Safe Crossings,” shows General Andrew Jackson and veterans of the Battle of New Orleans on their homeward march.
Jackson and his men pause on the south bank of the Tennessee River waiting to use George Colbert’s ferry. In the illustration, Jackson and Colbert meet at river’s edge.
This exhibit, titled “Safe Crossings,” shows General Andrew Jackson and veterans of the Battle of New Orleans on their homeward march. Jackson and his men pause on the south bank of the Tennessee River waiting to use George Colbert’s ferry. In the illustration, Jackson and Colbert meet at river’s edge.
[Text]
In the early 1800s, ferries like the one George Colbert ran near here on the Tennessee River linked segments of the Natchez Trace. Ferries carried people across the river—for a fee. Post riders, Kaintucks, military troops, casual travelers, slave traders, and enslaved people took the ferries.
The Chickasaw had the title to the land in this region, and Chickasaw leaders like George Colbert understood the value of safe river crossings. In 1801, in one of their first treaties with the US, the Chickasaw allowed the US to develop the Natchez Trace into a road. The Chickasaw retained the rights to operate a ferry across the Tennessee River. You are standing in a clearing looking across the Tennessee River. The clearing sits at the top of a slope that becomes steeper as you approach the river. There is a wooded ravine to your left. Dams built in the 1900s widened the river substantially. The Parkway bridge across the river is to your right. The loop road and parking are behind you.
Two men stand in the foreground on a sandy river shoreline. George Colbert is on the left. He wears a caped red coat, blue leggings, red and black garters, beaded belt and sash with geometric pattern, and moccasins. A wide silver bracelet encircles his right wrist and two silver crescent-shaped gorgets hang around his neck. His shoulder length black hair partially covers a high shirt collar, black neck cloth, and pierced ears. A black top hat trimmed with feathers sits atop his head. He stands facing the river with his right hand on his hip, a brown horse with white, forehead star at his side. He looks directly at Andrew Jackson.
Jackson wears a dark military frock cut to the waist in front with long tails. His white trousers, soiled by travel, are tucked into knee high black boots with spurs. The braiding on his high jacket collar, buttons, fringed epaulets, belt, and buckle are all gold. His gloved left hand steadies a sword with gold on the hilt, clasp, and tip. Jackson wears a bicorn hat, pinched in front and back, trimmed in gold, with a double cockade. He stands with his right foot and shoulder forward.
Behind Colbert, soldiers on horseback wait to board a ferry. Most wear hunting jackets, frock coats, and top hats. A non-commissioned officer wears red epaulettes on his black civilian coat and a tall round hat with an eagle insignia.
Several men, horses, and a covered wagon are on a ferry. The boat, a raft with railings, points toward the distant shore. Forested hilltops rise above the fog that shrouds the opposite riverbank. The sky is tinted pink and gold. Trees in the background have bright green leaves, a few have white and pink blossoms.
This exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“Chickasaw Hospitality,” Colbert Ferry, Milepost 327, Panel C
This exhibit, titled “Chickasaw Hospitality,” contains an illustration of George Colbert’s two-story clapboard inn and a variety of Natchez Trace travelers, including a post rider on horseback, and several inn workers.
You are standing at the corner of the parking lot. The site of Colbert’s inn is in the thin forest about 50 yards in front of you.
This exhibit, titled “Chickasaw Hospitality,” contains an illustration of George Colbert’s two-story clapboard inn and a variety of Natchez Trace travelers, including a post rider on horseback, and several inn workers.
You are standing at the corner of the parking lot. The site of Colbert’s inn is in the thin forest about 50 yards in front of you.
[Text] George Colbert’s stand sat atop the ridge before you. As one of many inns that dotted the Trace between Nashville and Natchez, it provided travelers with food and lodging.
With a Scottish father and Chickasaw mother, George Colbert used his bilingual abilities and knowledge of both cultures to build a network of enterprises. As a Chickasaw, he gained the right, by treaty, to operate a ferry across the Tennessee River.
One traveler, Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara, described the stand that Colbert built near his ferry as “a country palace.” Unlike other frontier buildings, it had an “abundance of glass in windows and doors.”
In the painting foreground, a Chickasaw man with brown skin, a black goatee, wears deer skin leggings and moccasins, a loose-fitting shirt, black kerchief tied around his neck, earrings, and a feathered turban. He holds the reins of a muddy horse. Its head is bowed and eyes closed. A white man with brown sideburns, mounted on the horse holds a small circular hunting horn. He wears a slouch hat with wide brim, a heavy green greatcoat with cape, trousers, and riding boots. There are leather bags behind his saddle and a pommel holster in front.
Colbert’s stand sits in a clearing at the top of a dirt path. The front door, in the middle of the first floor porch is open wide. Four windows, two on each level, have open shutters. The building has a steeply pitched roof, a large stone chimney, and a small addition attached to the back.
Three men lounge on the front porch. Two log outbuildings occupy the same clearing. Two women carrying baskets pause to chat. A woman in a long dress and apron tends a large cast iron pot over an open fire. The leaves on the trees in the background are changing to fall colors. Fading sunlight gives the scene a golden glow.
Several men gather along the path to the stand. Two Kaintucks, travelers off the Natchez Trace, in hats, hunting frocks, and trousers talk with a Chickasaw man dressed in a turban, fringed, knee-length coat with sash, leggings, and moccasins. The travelers carry muskets and bed rolls. Two others approach. One wears a top hat, his musket is balanced on his shoulder. During the War of 1812, Colonel John Coffee said: [Text] “I find all the Indians on the road, and particularly the Colbert family, are very accommodating to us, we shall be tolerably well supplied in passing through the [Chickasaw] nation . . . “
This panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
There is another exhibit to your right and several more along the roads at this rest stop.
“A Chickasaw Planter,” Colbert Ferry, Milepost 327, Panel D
On this exhibit, titled “A Chickasaw Planter,” there is a full-length portrait of George Colbert, and a photo of Colbert’s inn taken after Chickasaw removal.
On this exhibit, titled “A Chickasaw Planter,” there is a full-length portrait of George Colbert, and a photo of Colbert’s inn taken after Chickasaw removal.
[Text] During the early 1800s, a slave-owning planter class, including George Colbert’s family, emerged among the Chickasaw.
George’s success stemmed from a variety of endeavors. He fought with the Americans against the Shawnee and Creeks, traveled to Washington DC, as a tribal emissary, and steadfastly protected Chickasaw rights during treaty councils.
In addition to a ferry and an inn that Colbert operated nearby, he grew cotton and raised cattle. His large plantation depended on the labor of 150 enslaved African Americans.
After removal to “Indian Territory” in present-day Oklahoma, Colbert established another large farm. Already past his 80th birthday, he died in 1839.
The portrait of Colbert shows him standing with his right hand on his hip. He has high checkbones and dimpled chin. He wears a black turban with white and black feathers. A half dozen blue and white drop pendants hang from his ear.
His thigh-length forest green jacket is unbuttoned and the collar is high. Beneath the jacket a black neck cloth holds his high collar white shirt in place. Two silver crescent shaped gorgets hang high on his chest over a dark waistcoat. He wears silver armbands over both jacket sleeves.
Across his shoulder and chest he wears a sash with red, blue, and green droplet designs. The sash’s black tails dangle below his hip, adorned with a red serpentine design and fringe. The wide sash around his waist is decorated with a green and pale orange diamond-shaped design.
Colbert wears cream-colored-trousers, dark blue leggings trimmed in red garters, and moccasins.
In 1801, US Agent for Indian Affairs Benjamin Hawkins said: [Text] Major Colbert, who ranks high in the government of his nation . . . has labored at the plough and hoe during the last season, and his example has stimulated others.”
A black and white photo in the lower right shows a two-story clapboard building with wood shingles. Three wood steps lead to an elevated porch with no railing but four posts to support the roof. The building has a single door flanked by a window on each side. Two shuttered windows on the second floor are directly above those below.
The photo shows two large chimneys. The chimney toward the front is taller and wider. The roofline slopes from a peak above the second floor to a single level in the rear.
There are several boards missing from the building, one shutter is askew. Furnishings clutter the porch. The clearing around the building has uncultivated shrubs and bushes.
The photo’s caption: [Text] Though run down by the time this photo was taken, Colbert’s stand was once an important landmark on the Natchez Trace. Until forced removal, Colbert and his family lived in a more substantial house near present-day Tupelo.
You are standing at the corner of the parking lot looking into the trees that surround the site and that line the roads connecting stops scattered throughout this rest stop. There is another exhibit to your left.
“Safe Crossings,” Colbert Ferry, Milepost 327, Panel E
This exhibit, titled “Safe Crossings,” shows General Andrew Jackson and veterans of the Battle of New Orleans on their homeward march.
Jackson and his men pause on the south bank of the Tennessee River waiting to use George Colbert’s ferry. In the panel’s painting, Jackson and Colbert meet at river’s edge.
This exhibit, titled “Safe Crossings,” shows General Andrew Jackson and veterans of the Battle of New Orleans on their homeward march. Jackson and his men pause on the south bank of the Tennessee River waiting to use George Colbert’s ferry. In the panel’s painting, Jackson and Colbert meet at river’s edge.
You are standing along a walkway adjacent to parking. The view is across the Tennessee River, now widened by water impounded by a dam built in the 1900s. There are picnic tables and grills, shaded by trees, in the wide clearing that gently slopes away from you toward the river. The Parkway bridge across the river is in the distance to your right. The entry road makes a loop behind you.
[Text]
In the early 1800s, ferries like the one George Colbert ran near here on the Tennessee River linked segments of the Natchez Trace. Ferries carried people across the river—for a fee. Post riders, Kaintucks, military troops, casual travelers, slave traders, and enslaved people took the ferries. The Chickasaw had the title to the land in this region, and Chickasaw leaders like George Colbert understood the value of safe river crossings. In 1801, in one of their first treaties with the US, the Chickasaw allowed the US to develop the Natchez Trace into a road. The Chickasaw retained the rights to operate a ferry across the Tennessee River.
Two men stand in the foreground on a sandy river shoreline. George Colbert is on the left. He wears a caped red coat, blue leggings, red and black garters, beaded belt and sash with geometric pattern, and moccasins. A wide silver bracelet encircles his right wrist and two silver crescent-shaped gorgets hang around his neck. His shoulder length black hair partially covers a high shirt collar, black neck cloth, and pierced ears. A black top hat trimmed with feathers sits atop his head. He stands facing the river with his right hand on his hip, a brown horse with white, forehead star at his side. He looks directly at Andrew Jackson.
Jackson wears a dark military frock cut to the waist in front with long tails. His white trousers, soiled by travel, are tucked into knee high black boots with spurs. The braiding on his high jacket collar, buttons, fringed epaulets, belt, and buckle are all gold. His gloved left hand steadies a sword with gold on the hilt, clasp, and tip. Jackson wears a bicorn hat, pinched in front and back, trimmed in gold, with a double cockade. He stands with his right foot and shoulder forward.
Behind Colbert, soldiers on horseback wait to board a ferry. Most wear hunting jackets, frock coats, and top hats. A non-commissioned officer wears red epaulettes on his black civilian coat and a tall round hat with an eagle insignia.
Several men, horses, and a covered wagon are on a ferry. The boat, a raft with railings, points toward the distant shore. Forested hilltops rise above fog that shrouds the opposite riverbank. The sky is tinted pink and gold. Trees in the background have bright green leaves, a few have white and pink blossoms.
This panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
As you exit, there is a river inlet to your left with a boat ramp, parking, and rest rooms. There are other exhibits along the roads at this rest stop.
“Driven Up the Waters,” Water Route Overlook/Lauderdale, Milepost 328
This exhibit titled “Driven Up the Waters” focuses on the hardships encountered on the water route followed by many Cherokee during the Trail of Tears.
This exhibit titled “Driven Up the Waters” focuses on the hardships encountered on the water route followed by many Cherokee during the Trail of Tears.
In front of you, the river flows from left to right. There is split rail fence between you and the eroding bank along the water. The access cul de sac and a picnic area are behind you. To your right, a bridge carries the Natchez Trace Parkway over the Tennessee River, now widened by a dam built in the 1900s.
[Text]
The Trail of Tears led groups of Cherokee up the Tennessee River here. The Cherokee are one of five southeastern tribes who were relocated to Oklahoma due to the US Indian removal policy in the 1830s. During removal, most Cherokee went by land, but thousands of others traveled aboard barges and steamboats. Diseases, bred in cramped unsanitary conditions, raised the misery of those already reeling from the loss of their homes, homeland, and most possessions. After learning of shipboard hardships, Cherokee leaders organized future removals themselves, primarily over land. In the main illustration, a white, multi-tiered steamboat billowing black smoke pulls a flat, unpainted barge crowded with Cherokee people.
A tall Cherokee man dominates the image. He stands atop the barge, his head held high, hands crossed in front of his torso. His deep-set eyes stare straight ahead. A small girl stands against him with her head resting against his body.
The man is dressed in a red tunic and bright green turban. He wears an oval peace medal around his neck. The girl wears a blue shawl, long orange dress, and apron.
There are others on the barge roof. One man covers his face with his hand. Another lays curled under a blanket. A woman bows her head. Three men sit on the roof; two wear turbans and moccasins. The third is dressed in a European-style coat with cravat, vest, pants, and shoes.
One man with a top hat, European-style jacket and trousers stands with his hands on his hips, legs far apart, looking at the river’s opposite shore. There are two men standing near the front of the barge. One gestures with his hands; the other listens. The illustration also includes three figures on the barge deck. An African American man leans against the side of the barge and a Cherokee woman holds a child. The woman wears a large, silver and turquoise necklace over a square-necked brown dress trimmed in black.
At the front of the barge, there are a few items hung across a clothesline.
The steamboat and barge are moving away from the viewer, traveling down river from your left to right. A large red paddle on the rear of the steamboat churns the water into froth. The barge has an enclosed cabin- like shelter with two open windows and sits atop the rectangular hull.
This panel also contains a map that shows where several Cherokee Trail of Tears routes crossed the Old Natchez Trace.
The water route along the Tennessee River, the Drane, and the Deas- Whiteley routes that used both land and water crossed the Natchez Trace near here in northwest Alabama.
The Bell and Benge land routes crossed the Trace farther north in Tennessee. This panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“10,000 Years of History,” Highway 64 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 370, Panel A
This exhibit, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, three smaller photos with safety messages, an illustration of a river flatboat, and brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway.
You are inside an exhibit shelter that has four panels mounted on the back wall. This is the first panel on the left, Parking and an access road are behind you. The Natchez Trace Parkway is to your left. There are low brick walls along both sides of the shelter.
This exhibit, titled “10,000 Years of History,” has a large color photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a Parkway map, three smaller photos with safety messages, an illustration of a river flatboat, and brief histories of the Natchez Trace and the Parkway.
[Text] The Natchez Trace Parkway is a gift waiting to be enjoyed. The highway’s graceful curves and lower speeds slow down the pace of daily life.
A sense of discovery replaces everyday concerns. Up ahead, around that bend, nestled in the Parkway’s tunnel of trees are dozens of scenes from 10,000 years of history.
Take time to stop and explore. Rediscover the past. Accept this gift, and meet the people and cultures forever linked to the Natchez Trace.
On the map, the Parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, diagonally across Mississippi and a small corner of northwest Alabama, before continuing to Nashville, Tennessee. You are near the northern end of the Parkway at milepost 370, roughly 30 miles north of the Tennessee/Alabama border.
[Text] Trails to Trace The Natchez Trace Parkway is the last of many names given to one of North America’s most historic transportation corridors. Each name suggests who traveled this ancient, braided ribbon of trails first created by animals.
Some called portions the Chickasaw Trail or the Path to the Choctaw Nation. In the early 1800s, it became the Boatmen’s Trail and the Mail Road. When trade and travel shifted to river steamboats, sections of the Trace became local roads while others faded into the natural landscape.
This panel has three photos. The caption for a photo of a deer says, “Watch for Wildlife.” A second photo shows a driver holding a cell phone with the caption, “Avoid Distracted Driving.” A third photo shows two bicyclists on the Parkway with the caption “Share the Road.”
[Text] Please Travel Safely While traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway, be prepared and aware.
Obey the speed limit, and stay alert.
When you stop along the way, be aware of: · Poison ivy. · Ticks. · Fire ants and · Snakes.
There is a historical sketch of a flatboat midstream in a wide river. The wood boat is a rectangular raft topped by a cabin and steered by rudders protruding off the back and front. The boat carries about a dozen travelers and a few horses and cattle.
[Text] Kaintucks—farmers or boatmen from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys—floated cargoes to market, sold their flatboats as lumber, and walked home along the Natchez Trace.
Trace to Parkway It was local residents who kept the history of the Natchez Trace alive. In the 1930s, their interest in preserving the legacy of the Trace captured the attention of Congress. First, the federal government approved a survey of the meandering path. Then, in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the law creating the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Completed in 2005, the Parkway is the latest chapter in centuries old stories of trade, travel, and homeland. Preserved by the National Park Service, those stories live on. Discover them for yourself.
“Abundant Variety,” Highway 64 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 370, Panel B
Travelers along the Natchez Trace Parkway will encounter a wide variety of natural habitats and historical landmarks. This exhibit, titled “Abundant Variety,” contains a map of a northern portion of Natchez Trace Parkway. Photographs and text describe four sites along that segment of road.
Travelers along the Natchez Trace Parkway will encounter a wide variety of natural habitats and historical landmarks. This exhibit, titled “Abundant Variety,” contains a map of a northern portion of Natchez Trace Parkway. Photographs and text describe four sites along that segment of road. [Text]
There is something for everyone along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Enjoy scenic overlooks, intimate tree-shaded trails, and tumbling waterfalls. Learn the stories of travelers, explorers, military men, and the Chickasaw and Cherokee people who still treasure their homelands. Whether you are here for exercise, recreation, relaxation, or just a leisurely drive, you will find an abundance of nature and history along the Natchez Trace. The earth mounds along the Natchez Trace, thousands of years old, remain culturally and historically significant to modern Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. They are protected by federal law. Please respect them. The panel map locates opportunities for travelers to enjoy along the Parkway and the Parkway’s wider corridor. It shows historical and natural features, rest stops, and campgrounds from milepost 290 north of Tupelo, Mississippi, to milepost 430 just south of Nashville, Tennessee at Leipers Fork. You are at milepost 370.
The panel highlights four stops with photos and text. [Text] Gordon House Built in 1818, the Gordon House is one of two historic structures from the Natchez Trace era. Although John Gordon died in 1819, his wife Dolly operated a 1,500-acre plantation and ferry with the help of her children and enslaved workers until her death in 1859. Shrouded in wispy fog, the house sits in a mowed field. It is a rectangular, two-story red brick building. It looks long but narrow with a chimney on both ends and a stone foundation. There are two doors and three shuttered windows on the first floor, with three corresponding windows on the second floor.
[Text] Jackson Falls A cascading waterfall welcomes visitors who take the 10-minute hike down a steep paved path. Although Andrew Jackson traveled the Natchez Trace, did he visit these falls? That history is muddied by passing years, and imperfect memories. A photo of Jackson Falls shows water spilling over a stepped rocky outcrop surrounded by trees and shrubs with summertime foliage. A bright green layer of moss clings to the rock face next to the flowing water.
[Text] Meriwether Lewis In 1809, Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition died from gunshot wounds at Grinder’s Stand along the Natchez Trace. He likely died at his own hand. A monument shaped like a broken column sits atop his grave in honor of a life cut short. Under the broken column, the Lewis monument has a stepped rough-cut base eight layers high surrounded by a mowed, grassy field with mature trees in the background.
[Text] Colbert Ferry In the early 1800s, Chickasaw leader George Colbert provided Natchez Trace travelers with services they needed: a Tennessee River ferry and a stand (inn) for lodging and food. A photo, framed by riverbank trees, shows the Tennessee River and an elevated Parkway bridge over the water. The wide river reflects the colors in the sky—yellow, orange, and pale purple.
There is one exhibit to your left and two others to your right.
This exhibit, titled “An Enduring Past,” contains an illustration that features a woman from a southeastern tribe sharing the history of her people through storytelling.
This exhibit, titled “An Enduring Past,” contains an illustration that features a woman from a southeastern tribe sharing the history of her people through storytelling. [Text]
Lands along the Natchez Trace Parkway remain the historic homelands of the Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw people. This is the birthplace of their cultural lives. Among some of the most significant sites are monumental earthworks — mounds — created by their ancestors. Tribal storytellers remember this homeland. Children listen to elders, entranced by the achievements of the mound builders. Deeply troubled by their ancestors’ forced removal from their homelands, listeners are sustained by stories of resilience and hope, as their nations reestablished political and cultural traditions in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). Each year, many will return here to celebrate and honor the enduring legacies bestowed by this ancient homeland. In the illustration, a storyteller, an American Indian woman, kneels on the ground talking to three children seated in front of her. Her gray hair is pulled back into a ponytail. As she speaks, she leans slightly forward and gestures with her hands. She wears a white apron over a pale yellow ribbon dress, a multi-color finger-woven belt around her waist, a necklace with an oval medallion, and bracelets.
The children wear modern shirts and jeans. One child has her hands clasped, her elbows resting on her knees. A second child has her mouth slightly open. The third has his head slightly cocked to one side.
In muted colors that contrast with the full color storyteller and children, background images suggest 10,000 years of Southeastern Indian history. Three American Indian men in loincloths, wearing necklaces and carrying spears and bows stand in a haze behind a flat-topped mound and several thatched-roof structures. In front of the mound, a more decorated man holds a staff with three attached feathers aloft as he looks toward the sky. He wears a loincloth with a diamond pattern, a cape around his shoulders, a pouch with shoulder strap, necklaces, bracelets, and a headdress of vertical feathers in a wide headband. The mound scene represents a version of the Southeastern Indian Creation story.
The mound scene blends into a muted wagon train from the early 1800s. Both men and women walk and ride alongside the canvas- covered wagons pulled by oxen or horses. Three riders in military uniforms, carrying rifles, watch as the wagon train passes between them.
There are three other exhibits on this shelter wall, two to your left and one to your right.
“Journey of Injustice,” Highway 64 Exhibit Shelter, Milepost 370, Panel D
This fourth exhibit in a series of four is titled “Journey of Injustice,” and contains an illustration that depicts the overland journey of the Cherokee from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory. A map shows several routes taken by the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears, but highlights the Bell Route.
This fourth exhibit in a series of four is titled “Journey of Injustice,” and contains an illustration that depicts the overland journey of the Cherokee from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory. A map shows several routes taken by the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears, but highlights the Bell Route.
There are three other exhibits to your left.
[Text] In 1835, a small group of Cherokee signed the controversial Treaty of New Echota, leading to the removal of over 15,000 Cherokee from their homelands.
A sense of indescribable sadness and foreboding hovered over the Cherokee people as they were removed from their cherished homelands. Due to the raw emotions, illness, and death along the way, the journey became known as the Trail of Tears.
Years in the making, the tragic journey began in October 1838. Both state and federal officials wanted the Cherokee removed to the west. The panel shows men, women and children wrapped in long coats and blankets traveling via covered wagon, horseback, but mostly on foot across a barren winter field. A man and woman kneel on the ground next to a baby wrapped in a red blanket. The woman is bent over, her head near the ground, her straw hat next to her. The man removes his hat and reaches toward the deceased infant.
Other Cherokee gather round—two men on horseback and a half dozen others watch the kneeling couple. Two women—one an African American—and a child walk away. The Cherokee woman looks down toward the child whose face is sad. Others in the background huddle around fires and wagons covered in canvas. The Cherokee’s clothing varies from simple and unadorned to decorative and multi-colored.
A Cherokee man in the foreground looks straight at the viewer. He wears a dark blue turban with red pattern and trim. His hunting frock is blue with pale fringe. He has several silver loop earrings in each ear and a silver nose ring. His lips are pursed, his brow furrowed, his eyes glaring.
The panel map highlights the route from Tennessee to Oklahoma followed by John Bell and a group of over 600, including treaty supporters. It shows where Bell crossed the Natchez Trace. The highway near here is the actual Bell Route on the Trail of Tears.
Other groups of Cherokee followed different routes over land and water. The Water Route and Benge, Bell, Drane, and Deas-Whiteley routes are marked on the map.
All of the panels in this shelter have a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
“The Trail Where They Cried,” Sheboss Place, Milepost 400
This exhibit, titled “The Trail Where They Cried,” contains an illustration that depicts the overland journey of Cherokee from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory. A map shows several routes followed by the Cherokee.
This exhibit, titled “The Trail Where They Cried,” contains an illustration that depicts the overland journey of Cherokee from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory. A map shows several routes followed by the Cherokee. You are standing at the corner of the parking area looking into a grove of trees toward the Cherokee removal route. The Parkway is to your left.
[Text] In 1838, the Cherokee living in the Southeast faced the combined weight of hostile federal and state policies. Forcible removal from their traditional homeland became a fearful, tearful reality.
In the aftermath of hardships suffered by Cherokee who had already traveled west, tribal leaders managed their own removal plans.
The illustration shows men, women and children wrapped in long coats and blankets traveling via covered wagon, horseback, but mostly on foot across a barren winter field. A man and woman kneel on the ground next to a baby wrapped in a red blanket. The woman is bent over, her head near the ground, her straw hat next to her. The man removes his hat and reaches toward the deceased infant. Other Cherokee gather round—two men on horseback and a half dozen others watch the kneeing couple. Dozens of others in the background huddle around fires and wagons covered in canvas. Four women—one an African American—and a child walk away. One woman is dressed in a long hooded cape over a bonnet with ribbon tied under her chin. An ornamented bag with shoulder strap hangs on her hip. She looks down toward the child whose face is sad. The African American woman carries a large bundle against her chest, her apron is tattered and mud spattered. The two other Cherokee women carry large baskets. Two mounted soldiers watch from the left side of the painting. On the right there is a covered wagon pulled by oxen—their backbones and ribs are clearly visible. A man wearing a slouch hat, a sash with a black, red, and blue geometric design, and an ornamental belt walks ahead of the wagon. A Cherokee man in the foreground looks straight at the viewer. He wears a dark blue turban with red pattern and trim. His hunting frock is blue with pale fringe. He has several silver loop earrings in each ear and a silver nose ring. His lips are pursed, his brow furrowed, his eyes glaring. The panel map shows the routes, over both land and water, taken by Cherokee groups during Indian removal. John Benge led one detachment of about 1,100 fellow Cherokee across the Natchez Trace near here. On September 29, 1838, John Benge and George Lowrey reported conditions among the Cherokee in their group:
“ ... [M]any of them, say at least two thirds are in a destitute condition and in want of shoes, clothing and blankets.”
The exhibit panel has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
There is one other exhibit panel with information about this site 15 feet behind you along the walk adjacent to parking.
Last updated: February 7, 2022
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Contact Info
Mailing Address:
2680 Natchez Trace Parkway
Tupelo,
MS
38804
Phone:
800 305-7417
The Parkway Visitor Center near Tupelo, MS, is open 9am-4:30pm seven days a week. The visitor center is closed Thanksgiving, December 25th and January 1st.
