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LITTLE MOUNTAIN TRAIL To your left is a 1/2 mile long loop nature trail that descends into a shady hollow. You can easily complete the loop in thirty minutes. However, the more time you allow, the more you will see and hear. A 1/2 mile long side trail from the loop leads to the campground. |
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RETURN OF THE FOREST Along the Trace today the forest is returning to certain areas where crops were once growth. You can see several stages of plant succession in the slow return to a climax forest. The old fields are, for a while, havens for open-country wildlife, but as the trees reappear, these creatures give away to animals of the forest. |
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Some of the areas cleared for farming were unsuited to agriculture and others suffered from unwise use of the soil. Farming slowly deteriorated. |
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THE GREAT EASTERN HARDWOOD FOREST Before Columbus, the world of the eastern Indian was one of a vast continuous forest stretching from Canada to the Gulf coast. A mature forest, it changed little over the centuries, and served as the home of many creatures some now gone from the earth. A squirrel could travel from Maine to Texas without touching the ground. It was by far the greatest hardwood forest in the world. |
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Passenger pigeons by the millions darkened the skies overhead. They fed on the nuts and other fruits of the forest. The last survivor died in captivity in 1914. The Carolina parakeet, our only native parrot, was a common sight to early explorers. It also is gone forever. Even a woodland type of bison frequented this country. It too has disappeared. |
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The ivory-billed woodpecker needed large stands of mature trees to provide its insect food. As these have disappeared, so has the bird. It is now probably extinct. |
OLD NATCHEZ TRACE (Mile 199)
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THE OLD NATCHEZ TRACE In the early 1800's, many thoughtful Americans believed that isolation and the difficulties of communication would force the Mississippi Valley settlements to form a separate nation. Hoping to hold the frontier, Congress in 1800 established a post route from Nashville to Natchez.. |
| The Trace, then a series of Indian trails, had drawn from the Secretary of State the bitter comment." The passage of mail from Natchez is as tedious as from Europe when westerly winds prevail. "To speed the mail, Present Jefferson ordered the Army to clear out the trail and make it a road. Post riders carrying letters, dispatches, and newspapers, helped bind the vast turbulent frontier to the Republic. However their day passed by the mid 1830's when steamboats, funning from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, robbed the Trace of its usefulness as a main post road. |
BALLARD CREEK (Mile 200)
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PIGEON ROOST (Mile 204)
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PIGEON ROOST Pigeon Roost Creek, to your left, 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 Indian education, was elected chief of the Northeast District of the Choctaw Nation in 1826. |
EXHIBIT SHELTER (Mile 204)
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THE CHOCTAW INDIANS From the 16th century until the 1830's, the Choctaw lived in the region adjoining the Parkway. |
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CHOCTAW VILLAGE In 1800, about 20,000 lived in present day Mississippi. |
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PUSHMATAHA The Choctaw were never at war with the Americans. Under the influence of Pushmataha (1764 to 1824), the greatest of all Choctaw chiefs, they refused to join anti-American alliances. |
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A LIVING FROM THE LAND The Indians hunted, fished, and gathered wild berries, nuts and fruit. They supplemented these activities by farming. Deer was the most common game animal. The Indians used the bones for tools and the skins for clothing. Cooking pots were made of clay, mixed with sand or grit. The surfaces were decorated with the impressions of fabrics or cords. |
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THE OLD NATCHEZ TRACE In the 18th century, Indians and French explorers traveled along the trails. From the trails of wild animals and Indians grew the Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness binding the Old Southwest in the rest of the nation. The United States Government authorized a post road between Natchez and Nashville in 1800. Soon the old trails were greatly improved. Postmaster General Gideon Granger urged improvements to President Thomas Jefferson, 1806. |
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TREATY OF FORT ADAMS In 1801, the Choctaw permitted the United States to open the Natchez Trace through their lands. |
| CHOCTAW LANDS AND CESSIONS (1800
- 1830) The Choctaw claimed most of the present state of Mississippi. By 1830, they had ceded all this territory to the United States. |
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FRENCH CAMP MARKER The Indians established inns along the Trace. Some carved farms out of the wilderness. They made rapid progress in self-government and began to accept the white man's way of living. |
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BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS The War of 1812 ended triumphantly at New Orleans in 1815. The folklore of the Trace in the old Southwest stems from the homeward march of General Jackson's soldiers over the road. |
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PLAYING STICK-BALL, Philadelphia,
Mississippi After 1830, the tribe moved to Oklahoma. A number remained in Mississippi, however, where their descendants reside today. |
LINE CREEK (Mile 244)
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LINE CREEK Unlike modern nations, Indian tribes seldom recognized clear, exact boundaries to their lands. However, the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians came to accept as a dividing line the stream that flowed in this valley. It remained the boundary until both tribes moved to Oklahoma in the 1830's. |
| Although the stream's course has been changed somewhat by a modern drainage canal, it is still called Line Creek. Near here, Noah Wall and his Choctaw wife had a stand where food and shelter were provided for travelers on the Natchez Trace. |
BYNUM MOUNDS (Mile 231)
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OLD TRACE (Mile 221)
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OLD TRACE Preserved here is a portion of a nearly 200 year old road, the Old Natchez Trace. Maintaining this 500 mile long wilderness road in the early 1800's was a difficult if not hopeless task. As you look down the sunken trench, note the larger trees growing on the edge of the 10 foot wide strip we clear today. These trees are mute testimony to the endless struggle between man to alter and change, and nature to reclaim, restore, and heal. |
DAVIS LAKE (Off Road at Mile 244)
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WITCH DANCE (Mile 234)
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WITCH DANCE Witch Dance... the very name conjures visions of eerie midnight's, swirling black capes, and brooms stacked against a nearby tree ! |
| The old folks say the witches once gathered here to dance, and that wherever their feet touched the ground, the grass withered and died, never to grow again. Impossible ?... maybe so, but look around, look for a hidden spot where no grass grows. |
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CHICKASAW AGENCY (Mile 241)
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CHICKASAW AGENCY The United States agents to the Chickasaws lived from 1802 to 1825 west of here on the Old Natchez Trace. That Americans could peacefully travel the road through Indian lands was due in large measure to the agents. Their efforts to preserve harmony included such thankless tasks as collecting debts, recovering stolen horses, removing trespassers, and capturing fugitives. |
| Winters were lonely, but spring and summer brought thousands of "Kaintucks" on the long journey from Natchez to their Ohio valley homes. Many expected the agency to supply medicines or food, or just a good nights rest. |
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OWL CREEK ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (Off Road at Mile 244)
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The Owl Creek site is intriguing because the mounds show that massive construction was done during the early part of the Mississippian period, yet the site was abandoned after only a hundred years. During its use, Owl Creek was the largest mound with in a region covering thousands of square miles. The nature of the ceremonies carried out at the mounds and the reason for the site's abandonment remain a mystery. People probably came to the mounds for special events but lived on small farms scattered on high ground along |
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WAS OWL CREEK THE TOWN OF CHICASA ? Hernando De Soto landed in Florida at Tampa Bay in May 1539. His army numbered around 800 Spaniards including two women. He also had 240 horses and several pigs. The expedition traveled through the Southeast to Texas and returned to the Mississippi River to float down to the Gulf of Mexico. Only about 300 Spaniards survived the four-year journey to reach Mexico in September of 1543. |
| Chicasa was a village occupied by the Chickasaw Indians. The Chickasaws attacked and burned their own village in 1541 while Hernando De Soto and his Spanish army were living there, in order to drive the Spaniards out. It has been suggested that Owl Creek Mounds was the site of Chicasa. However, according to archaeological discoveries the mounds were abandoned around AD 1200. No one lived at Owl Creek Mounds at the time of De Soto's expedition. |
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ARCHAEOLOGY AT OWL CREEK MOUNDS The first archaeological work at Owl Creek Mounds was supervised by Moreau Chambers in August, 1935. He was employed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and assisted by Slater Gordon, E T Winston, a Pontotoc journalist and local historian, also helped. The crew hired by the Federal Employment Relief Administration, was composed of local men. |
| The Owl Creek site consists of five mounds arranged around a central open area. Mounds I and II are publicly owned, while Mounds III, IV, and V are on private land. The mounds were described in 1805 by Dr Rush Nutt, and early traveler through the area. He wrote that all five mounds were flat on top. Today, only Mound I remains close to its prehistoric appearance. As late as the 1960's, the mounds were plowed and planted, changing their slope and size. The county road also was widened, cutting away part of Mound V. |
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| Archaeologist discovered the age of the mounds by using the radiocarbon method to date charcoal samples. This tells how much time has passed since the charred remains were living organisms such as tree or corn plants. All living things absorb carbon-14 in their tissues continues to decay radioactively. Since we know how fast carbon-14 decays, measuring the amount left can provide a date for each charcoal sample. Owl Creek Mounds were built between 800 and 900 years ago and were used for only about 100 years. This was determined by the dating of charcoal samples collected at the site and by studying the artifacts and type of building remains found in the mounds. Small amounts of charcoal were carefully collected from a wall trench and post holes in Mounds I, II, and V. The radiocarbon lab counted the amount of radioactive carbon-14 left in each sample. Five different radiocarbon dates were determined. The dates spanned from the period AD 1133 to AD 1219. |
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Using wall trenches in the construction of buildings is also typical of the Mississippian cultures. The builders dug narrow trenches where each wall was to be placed. They then set the posts, sometimes in post holes dug in the bottom of the trenches. The wall trenches were filled with dirt to hold the posts in place. Archaeological excavations found wall trenches in Mounds I, II, and IV. This method of construction also confirms that the mounds were built during the Mississippian period. |
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SUMMER SHELTERS In summer, the Indians probably lived largely out-of-doors under temporary brush lean-to shelters. Most of their time was spent caring for their crops, hunting, and gathering wild plants, fish, and shellfish from the surrounding area. New winter homes were built as necessary before the winter months. |
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WINTER HOMES Three permanent house foundations, one 80 feet directly ahead of you, were discovered during archeological excavations. These were built buy placing timbers upright in a circular pattern, weaving willows or reed stems into them, and finally plastering mud on the outside. Roofs were thatched with grass and bark with a center hole for smoke to escape. |
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In the summers of 1991 and 1992, archaeology field schools from Mississippi State University worked to learn more about the site. Most of the excavations were done on top of Mounds I and II, with small test units dug into Mounds III, IV, and V. Broken pieces of pottery and other artifacts were recovered. Information on pits, buildings, and mound construction stages was also gathered. |
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A shell tempered piece of pottery. The rim of the vessel was scalloped. |
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A ground stone ax was found in Goodfood Creek near the mounds. Since it was made from a fragile type of rock called limonite, it was probably a ceremonial object. The ax may have served as a symbol for an important leader, perhaps someone in charge of the ceremonies at the mound. |
HERNANDO DESOTO (Mile 244)
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Somewhere in this vicinity the Spanish Explorer, Hernando DeSoto, crossed the animal paths that later became the Natchez Trace. In 1539, he set out on a long arduous journey that took him across the Southeastern United States. |
| He crossed the Tombigbee River, east of here in December 1540, and spent the ensuing winter among the nearby Chickasaw Indians. Later attacked by the Indians, DeSoto and his army moved westward. He is credited with "discovering" the Mississippi River somewhere south of Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1541. |
MONROE MISSION (Mile 245)
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MONROE MISSION STATION At Monroe Mission Station northwest of here, the Chickasaw first received Christianity and education in 1822. Five years later, 100 acres were under cultivation and 81 pupils were attending the school. Boys learned farming and carpentry, and girls learned spinning and weaving, in addition to classroom work. |
| More than 150 persons were baptized in the church, "a diminutive room, not over 16' x 16'." In front was a large arbor covered with brush and treated with puncheons" for summer meetings. Monroe and three other stations were the training centers for many who became leaders of the Chickasaws in Oklahoma. |
TOCKSHISH (Mile 250)
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TOCKSHISH Named for a Chickasaw word meaning "tree root", Tockshish was a community of Indians and white men on the Natchez Trace to the northwest. John McIntosh, British agent to the Choctaws, first settled there before 1770. In 1801, McIntosh's was made the second post office between Nashville and Natchez, and a relay station where post riders exchanged weary horses for fresh ones. The post office is gone... only the name recalls the time when hoof-beats marked the arrival of mail bags that had left Nashville five days before and were due in Natchez seven days later. |
CHICKASAW COUNCIL HOUSE (Mile 252)
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CHICKASAW COUNCIL HOUSE Westerly on the Natchez Trace stood an Indian village, "Pentatock" with its council house which, in the 1820's became the "Capitol" of the Chickasaw Nation. The chiefs and headman met there to sign treaties or to establish tribal laws and policies. Each summer two or three thousand Indians camped nearby to receive the annual payments for lands they had sold to our Federal Government. |
| After the treaty of 1832, the last land was surrendered. The Council House disappeared, but its memory remains here in the names of a Mississippi county and town, and went west with the Chickasaws as a county and village in Oklahoma. |
BLACK BELT OVERLOOK (Mile 253)
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BLACK BELT Ages ago this area was under an arm of the ocean, shells and other marine organisms were deposited to form the limestone seen here. Exposures of the limestone to all types of weathering gradually changed it into a heavy fertile soil of various colors. The dominant black soil, which before cultivation was green grassland, has given the area the name "Black Belt" or "Black Prairie". |
| The Black Belt extends south beyond Columbus, Mississippi, then trends eastward across nearly all of Alabama. Formerly one of America's great cotton areas, it is now considered excellent pasture land for livestock. |
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CHICKASAW VILLAGE SITE (Mile 261)
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THE CHICKASAW NATION This tribe, population about 2000, lived in the "Chickasaw Old Fields," a small natural prairie near Tupelo, Mississippi. Although their villages occupied an area of less than 20 square miles, the Chickasaw claimed, and hunted over, a vast region in northern Mississippi and Alabama and western Tennessee and Kentucky. The Chickasaw were closely related to the Choctaw, Creek, and Natchez as well as some of the smaller tribes of the Mississippi Valley. |
| A CHICKASAW VILLAGE - Here once stood an Indian village of several houses and a fort |
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SUMMER HOUSE During the summer they lived in rectangular well-ventilated houses |
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WINTER HOUSE In the winter they lived in round houses with plastered walls. |
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FORT In times of danger, everybody warriors, women, children... sought shelter in strongly fortified stockades. |
| DE SOTO - 1541 De Soto's followers were the first Europeans to see the Chickasaw with whom they fought a bloody battle. |
| FRENCH-CHICKASAW WAR - 1736 The Chickasaw threatened French communications between Louisiana and Canada and urged the Choctaw to trade with the English. |
| ENGLISH - FRENCH CONFLICT - 1700 to 1763 England and France after the founding of Louisiana, fought four wars for control of North America. The Chickasaw became allies of the British who used them as a spearhead to oppose French expansion. This tribe with British help not only remained independent, but threatened French shipping on the Mississippi. The French conquered or made allies of all the tribes along the Mississippi, except the Chickasaw. They made great efforts to destroy this tribe, sending powerful forces against them in 1736 and in 1740, and incited the Choctaw and other tribes to do likewise. The Chickasaw successfully resisted, and remained a thorn in the side of France until she, in 1736, lost all her North American possessions. |
| RELOCATION TO OKLAHOMA - 1837 to 1847
The Chickasaw, after ceding the last of their ancestral lands to the United States, moved to Oklahoma to become one of the "Five Civilized Tribes." |
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