Last updated: November 7, 2024
Place
Pigeon Roost, Milepost 203.5
NPS Photo / P. Pinson
Quick Facts
Location:
Natchez Trace Parkway, Milepost 203.5
Significance:
Historic Stand Site
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Wheelchair Accessible
Pigeon Roost Creek is a reminder of the millions of migrating passenger pigeons that once roosted in trees in this area. The species has been completely destroyed.
One mile east where the Natchez Trace crossed the creek, Nathaniel Folsom of New England and his Choctaw wife had a trading post before 1790. Their son, David, later operated it and accommodated travelers. When the Reverend Thomas Nixon stopped there in 1815, David's wife "prepared suitable nourishment... and would have no pay."
David Folsom, strong supporter of Christianity and American Indian education, was elected chief of the Northeast District of the Choctaw Nation in 1826.
Why were the stands along the Natchez Trace?
The need for stands appeared when the US government wanted to improve the Natchez Trace into a post road to deliver mail from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. In 1800 most of the Natchez Trace ran through Choctaw and Chickasaw lands. A limited number of homesteads offered provisions on Chickasaw land.
As trade and travel increased down the Mississippi River so did stands along the Natchez Trace. Many of these stands were owned by frontiersmen and their American Indian wives. While the United States did not recognize women’s rights to own land many American Indian nations-including the Chickasaw and Choctaw-did. Tribes preferred to manage their own businesses on tribal land. During this time stands generally bore the last name of the owners: Brashears Stand, for example.
What were the stands like?
The stands along the Natchez Trace varied widely in size and services offered. Many stands offered very basic food along with meager accommodations. Advertisements by stand owners in Natchez newspapers focused on the travelers’ diet along the Natchez Trace. The highlights included ground coffee, sugar, biscuits, bacon, and whiskey. Corn was a staple served to Natchez Trace travelers. It usually took the form of hominy, a dish prepared by soaking the corn in lye. Lucky travelers would have the option to sleep on a crude bed, but a cleared spot on the floor was what they expected. Due to cramped and dirty conditions inside the stands, many travelers chose to sleep outside on the porch or yard under the stars.
Slavery along the Natchez Trace
Each decade from the 1820s through the Civil War, roughly 200,000 enslaved people were forcibly moved from the upper south to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Many of these roughly 1 million enslaved people traveled the Natchez Trace on foot. Many stands along the Natchez Trace were home to enslaved people; they worked for the profit of stand owners and served travelers. Mount Locust, Colbert Ferry, the Gordon House, and numerous other stands relied on the labor of enslaved people to prosper. Some plantation owners, including Turner Brashears of Brashears Stand, became wealthy as traders of enslaved people.
What happened to the stands?
Travel on the Natchez Trace declined as travelers used steamboats more and more for transportation to and from market towns such as Natchez, MS and New Orleans. Many stand owners relocated to more active trade routes or closed their doors. For decades after, however, settlers relied on sections of the Natchez Trace for local travel. With the establishment of the Natchez Trace Parkway many of the stands live on only in our history.
See Historic Stands along the Old Natchez Trace for additional information.
One mile east where the Natchez Trace crossed the creek, Nathaniel Folsom of New England and his Choctaw wife had a trading post before 1790. Their son, David, later operated it and accommodated travelers. When the Reverend Thomas Nixon stopped there in 1815, David's wife "prepared suitable nourishment... and would have no pay."
David Folsom, strong supporter of Christianity and American Indian education, was elected chief of the Northeast District of the Choctaw Nation in 1826.
Why were the stands along the Natchez Trace?
The need for stands appeared when the US government wanted to improve the Natchez Trace into a post road to deliver mail from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. In 1800 most of the Natchez Trace ran through Choctaw and Chickasaw lands. A limited number of homesteads offered provisions on Chickasaw land.
As trade and travel increased down the Mississippi River so did stands along the Natchez Trace. Many of these stands were owned by frontiersmen and their American Indian wives. While the United States did not recognize women’s rights to own land many American Indian nations-including the Chickasaw and Choctaw-did. Tribes preferred to manage their own businesses on tribal land. During this time stands generally bore the last name of the owners: Brashears Stand, for example.
What were the stands like?
The stands along the Natchez Trace varied widely in size and services offered. Many stands offered very basic food along with meager accommodations. Advertisements by stand owners in Natchez newspapers focused on the travelers’ diet along the Natchez Trace. The highlights included ground coffee, sugar, biscuits, bacon, and whiskey. Corn was a staple served to Natchez Trace travelers. It usually took the form of hominy, a dish prepared by soaking the corn in lye. Lucky travelers would have the option to sleep on a crude bed, but a cleared spot on the floor was what they expected. Due to cramped and dirty conditions inside the stands, many travelers chose to sleep outside on the porch or yard under the stars.
Slavery along the Natchez Trace
Each decade from the 1820s through the Civil War, roughly 200,000 enslaved people were forcibly moved from the upper south to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Many of these roughly 1 million enslaved people traveled the Natchez Trace on foot. Many stands along the Natchez Trace were home to enslaved people; they worked for the profit of stand owners and served travelers. Mount Locust, Colbert Ferry, the Gordon House, and numerous other stands relied on the labor of enslaved people to prosper. Some plantation owners, including Turner Brashears of Brashears Stand, became wealthy as traders of enslaved people.
What happened to the stands?
Travel on the Natchez Trace declined as travelers used steamboats more and more for transportation to and from market towns such as Natchez, MS and New Orleans. Many stand owners relocated to more active trade routes or closed their doors. For decades after, however, settlers relied on sections of the Natchez Trace for local travel. With the establishment of the Natchez Trace Parkway many of the stands live on only in our history.
See Historic Stands along the Old Natchez Trace for additional information.