Natchez Trace
A couple of years ago I was traveling with my parents
to Louisiana to visit relatives. We went through lots
of interesting cities that are part of our history.
But what interested me most was the Natchez Trace. It
extends from Nashville, Tennessee all the way down to
the Gulf of Mexico. I had read about the Trace in many
books and stories of the south. How the early settlers had
traveled there during the early days of our great
country. It was an indian trail to begin with until
the signing of treaties between the settlers and the
Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians. Then the settlers were
free to use the trail. It kind of lost out when the
steamboat was developed and traveling was done by
boat. Now it is a national monument and parkway. Just
outside of Jackson, Mississippi, is an exit off I-20
to the Natchez Trace. As we started riding along on
the highway I thought of the history that was made
there. I wondered how many people were murdered for
their goods or what little money they had and left to
become part of the land. I wondered if in developing
the highway if any bones were found and if so, what
happened to them. The speed limit there is fifty miles
per hour, strictly enforced. Its good because if you
drive slow you can see deer along the highway. Since
its a national park they are protected. The wildness
of the woods you go through. If not for the highway
you could close your eyes and drift back in time. With
a good imagination you might hear the sound of horses
and wagons. The sound of people as they travel along.
I thought how I would like to be on a hike or some
kind of passage from Nashville all the way down to the
gulf. Maybe stop and camp at night and start again the
next morning. I would like to have a group of friends
interested in our history traveling with me. But my
time there was short because we turned off in Natchez,
Mississippi and continued on our trip west to
Alexandria, Louisiana. I was sorry to leave the trace,
I would have liked to continue all the way down to the
gulf. Some day maybe I will!
neon_sapphire
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