The Natchez Trace and travels in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and a bit of Georgia – April and May 2016

How do we choose where to take trips.   One source was the Walt Disney Show of 1955-6, which featured a series on the life of Davy Crockett.  I was an impressionable 6-year old at that time.  Like many others, I had a coonskin cap and a cork popgun.  Davy was my idol and, in some ways, still is.

The Ballad of Davy Crockett

By Fess Parker (who played the role of Davy)

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee  (actually born along the banks of a river not on a mountain top)
Greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so he knew ev'ry tree
Kilt him a be 'are when he was only three  (he did kill many bears, but not beginning at age 3)
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier! (No one called him Davy – it was David)

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Off through the woods he's a marchin' along (he was on the Natchez Trace)
Makin' up yarns an' a singin' a song
Itchin' fer fightin' an' rightin' a wrong
He's ringy as a be 'are an' twict as strong
Davy, Davy Crockett, the buckskin buccaneer!

The ballad goes on for many a verse, extolling Davy’s virtues in an exaggerated or untrue form.  One of the episodes of the Disney series featured a rivalry with the notorious keel-boatman, Mike Fink (see Wikipedia on Mike).   Much of the tale is probably fiction, but it did impress this 6 year old boy from western Connecticut.

Davy and Mike fought each other on their respective keel-boats.  Keel-boats transported farm crops, whiskey and livestock down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to markets in Natchez, Mississippi and New Orleans.  During the era before steam power, there was no way to easily barge upriver.  The barges (boats) were disassembled and sold as lumber.

The boatmen and women (if the Mike Fink legend is correct) would walk back to Tennessee and Kentucky along a series of woodland trails known as the Natchez Trace.

Besides playing Davy Crockett, Fess Parker also starred in the TV series Daniel Boone.  Age 84, Mr. Parker passed away on March 18, 2010.  David Crockett died at the battle of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas in March of 1836.

The other source of an idea for a trip were our friends and past travel companions (fall foliage tour of 2008 and Lewis and Clark trip of 2014) Jim and Sandy Cooper.  Sandy indicated that she wanted to see the Deep South and some of the historic civil rights places in Alabama and Mississippi.

Following the Natchez Trace starting from Franklin, Tennessee was to be the spinal column of our trip.  I say spinal column because we took several side trips far off the historic Trace and extended it to New Orleans.

This will be a long slutigram and I feel  it is better to organize the trip into categories rather than chronologically as they occurred in history or even as we encountered them.  The categories will be:  1. The Natchez Trace.  2.  Native American history.  3.  Military historic sites on and near to the Trace.  4.  Civil Rights.  5.  New Orleans.  6. Other interesting places.  Several photos have text from signs.  I recommend that you click on the photo to enlarge it to make reading easier.

1.  The Natchez Trace. 

The Natchez Trace is one of many trails that provided a path through the trans-Appalachian forest.  It is believed that many of these paths followed those originally made by bison, elk and other large mammals.  These paths were later used by the indigenous Native Americans for hunting purposes.  As we found, evidence exists for very ancient human settlement along the Trace.

When the colonists first crossed the Appalachian Mountains, it was often easier to travel by boat down the Mississippi and then sail to the east coast colonies than to go over the mountains.  This was the era before the use of steam power on the riverboats and before roadways into the wilderness.

The Trace winds its way through 444 miles of forest from south central Tennessee, central Alabama and western Mississippi, ending at Natchez, Mississippi.  In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson designated the Trace a national post road for mail delivery from Nashville to Natchez.  In 1938 the Natchez Trace Parkway became a unit of the National Park Service and the road was finally completed in 2005.

We followed the Trace from north to south at the leisurely 50 miles per hour speed limit on a well-maintained paved road beginning at Pasquo, Tenn.  The scenery varied only slightly during the first 200 or so miles.  Large old trees on both sides of the road was the normal view, with occasional points of interest.

Our first stop was a Birdsong Hollow where we appreciated the architectural beauty of the Double Arch Bridge.

After 30 miles on the Trace we exited and drove the short distance to the town of Clifton, Tenn. To see the home of that well-known 11^th President of the USA, James K. Polk.

Other than the White House, this is the only remaining home in which Polk lived.  When you read of his accomplishments as President, you wonder why he seems to be ignored in so many histories of the early USA.  Read the text of this photo (probably will have to enlarge it by double clicking on it) to learn that he was the only president to accomplish all of his campaign promises.

From my viewpoint as a stamp collector, his greatest accomplishment was this:  the first adhesive US postage stamp in 1847.

The home has a very good collection of articles and furniture actually owned and used by the Polk's during their lifetime.

After an enjoyable lunch at the Rockin’ Chair Café in Hohenwald, Tenn., we rejoined the Trace.

Few structures survive from the era when the Trace was the main route of travel between Natchez and Tennessee.  The Gordon House built in 1817 does remain.  Captain John Gordon was a ferry operator on the nearby Duck River and fought under General Andrew Jackson in his early battles for southern territory.  This house was an inn used by the many travelers along the Trace.  As he died shortly after completion of the house, we should give due credit to his wife, Dorothea, who ran the inn and lived in the building until her death in 1859.   There were inns every several miles along the Trace, but this one is the only surviving inn from that era.

Shortly after the Gordon house one comes to Jackson Falls, a secluded stream creates a scenic waterfall accessible by a short walk through the forest.  As it had not rained in the past few days, the flow was low, but still a serene sight mixed with the sound of trickling water.   The falls are named after our 7^th president, Andrew Jackson.

We encounter the first of the “Old Trace” areas.   The Parkway signage helps tell the story of the Trace and the various sites along the parkway.

Except when we near the cities of Tupelo, Jackson and Natchez, other traffic was a rare sight.  When we turned into a parking area, we were often the only auto in the lot.  I suppose during the summer it is used more.  That is one reason why we chose to travel during the off season.

Our next stop was the site of a former inn, only a signpost now, at Sheboss.  The story is that widow Cranfield and a quiet man of American Indian heritage, who was her husband, ran the inn.  When travelers would ask him a question, his only response was “she boss.”  The name stuck.

A few miles south of Sheboss we came to a site that gives closure, in a way, to our Lewis and Clark trip of 2014.  A memorial to Meriwether Lewis.  It is believed that Lewis suffered from depression and that he took his own life here.  Others insist that he was ambushed by bandits; but the evidence does not support this theory.  A great explorer came to an inglorious end along the Natchez Trace during the night of October 11, 1809.  During the Civil War, Confederate General Hood removed the iron fence that enclosed the monument – he used the iron to make horse shoes.

The Buffalo River crosses the Trace near mile 380.  A large flat stone provides a hard bottom for the crossing.  It was said to look like a sheet of metal – thus the name, metal ford.   The river is more like a large creek; however, it might be more impressive after heavy rainfall.  We walked along the portion of the old Trace at the ford and enjoyed the quiet beauty of the forest during our stop here.

You might notice that the Trace appears more sunken here than in the earlier photo, that is because as we leave the rocky soil, the path wore deeper and deeper from all of the foot, horse and wagon traffic of the early 1800s.  Once we get to loess soils in Mississippi (created by dust and silt being blown in from afar) the path gets even deeper.

The Trace passes by several mounds left by the mound-builder Native American culture.  I’ll get to these in the Native American history portion of this slutigram.  Just north of Tupelo, we encounter confederate graves and battlefields along the Trace.  These will be included in the military history section.

Crossing the Tennessee River the Trace leaves Tennessee and enters Alabama for 20 miles before crossing the Mississippi State line.  The Trace takes us to Tupelo, where Elvis Presley grew up.  Just before the city, the main Natchez Trace Parkway visitor center is located.  Informative panels and helpful volunteers give a history of the Trace.

We enjoy two nights in Tupelo, giving us the opportunity to restock snacks and do laundry.  The city seems prosperous, with all of the stores and food chains that we are used to seeing at home.

Along the Trace, we cross the boundaries of 3 of the five Great Indian Nations, the Cherokee in Tennessee, the Chickasaw and Choctaw in Mississippi. 

Another 10 miles south brings one to the strangely names place of Witch Dance.  Read the sign and judge for yourself.

We have come out of the mountains to a region with much farmland.  The parkway has succeeded in keeping a belt of large trees that usually give the impression of being in a great forested area, but behind the trees, we frequently see cornfields and pasture the further we go south in Mississippi.

20 miles south of Witch Dance is Pigeon Roost.  It is said that the Passenger Pigeons were so numerous that they darkened the sky with vast flocks in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.  Just for “fun” (not for consumption) many would shoot them in large numbers, never realizing that their acts would cause this bird to become extinct by the early 20^th century.   The last one died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept 1, 1914.  Today, the forest is silent at Pigeon Roost. Learn more at:  http://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2014/why-passenger-pigeon-went-extinct

Our actual route took us away from the Trace to Montgomery Alabama, but I’ll stay on the Trace for consistency.  After reaching Montgomery, Elaine left us for a week, as one of her brothers passed away and she attended his services in South Dakota.  She rejoined us in New Orleans a week later.

In my mind, the most beautiful sight that I saw was the Cypress Swamp that is along the Trace near the Pearl River at the north end of the Senator Ross Barnett Reservoir.  As we entered the swamp, we all naturally began speaking in whispers.  The word “awesome” is overused.  Its meaning is creating a feeling of awe.  The swamp was an appropriate place to use the word awesome.  Jim, Sandy and I spent quite a bit of time in the swamp, and were in no hurry to leave it.  I have one of the swamp photos as a desktop background on my laptop.

The swamp was created when the Pearl River changed its channel of flow.  The Pearl River makes up part of the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana.  If one looks at the topographic map of the State of Mississippi, you will see that much of the state is swampland, some of it being tributaries of the Pearl River.  When heavy rains fall, a good part of the state can flood with disastrous effect.  An interesting coincidence of no particular significance is that the Pearl River’s length is 444 miles, which is the same length as the Natchez Trace Parkway.  We watched the lazy river flowing and saw several locals out on the water in their bass boats.  I don’t imagine that much swimming is done in the river, as there are alligators in the water.

As we near Jackson, Mississippi (another place named after President Jackson), we cross what was the boundary of West Florida.  West Florida is the part of the old Florida that was ceded to the British in 1763 by Spain.  It is comprised of the southern counties of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana east of the Mississippi River.

The Trace skirts the western edge of Jackson, MS, but you hardly get a glimpse of this state capitol when driving the Trace.  However, the traffic gets pretty heavy until you get away from the city.  Locals use the trace as just another way to get from one part of the city to another.  Rather than go to Jackson, we went to Vicksburg for a few days.  I’ll talk about that place in the military history section.

The Trace highlights much of the local American Indian history and civil war along this part of the Trace.  The old Trace exhibits its deepest wear here.

Originally, we had intended to stay in a plantation bed and breakfast in Port Gibson, MS.  However, it was no longer a B and B.  When we arrived in Port Gibson, we were quite glad that circumstances prevented our stay there.  We did not see one person or open business in this small Mississippi town.  Here is the center of town which includes the county courthouse and requisite confederate memorial.

There was an interesting church in the town, the 2^nd oldest in the old southwest (at that time).  The steeple points to where your focus should be in life.

West of Port Gibson, along a narrow road we came to the Windsor plantation.  In its day, it covered 2,600 acres of prime cotton land.  The exquisite plantation mansion was completed in 1861.  Its structure was supported by 29 forty-foot tall columns.  Even though the mansion was used by the confederates as an observation post and by the Union forces as a headquarters and hospital, the mansion survived the war.  On Feb. 17, 1890, a careless guest dropped their cigar ash onto the third floor.  The results can be seen in the photo. 

Before rejoining the Trace, we pass the Springfield Plantation.  It is privately owned and is not open for tours.  However, it has some historic significance; in 1791, Andrew Jackson married his beloved Rachel Robards at the plantation.  Unfortunately, Rachel assumed that her first husband was not among the living.  He was very much alive, and this blunder caused Andrew much consternation when he ran for political office back in Tennessee.

Our trip along the Trace only had 30 miles before reaching its culmination at Natchez.   Near mile 15, is the restored Mount Locust Plantation.  Mt. Locust is maintained by the National Park Service and is well kept.  We saw the opulence of other plantation homes and in town mansions, but this was a modest home of a cotton planter.

A short walk from the plantation house brings one to the slave cemetery.  At least these unfortunates were given the dignity of a burial place when their days of bondage were over.

Two miles down the Trace are the Loess Bluffs.  Reading the sign helps one understand why the Trace has sunk deeper as one nears the Mississippi River.

Today we arrive in Natchez on the Mississippi River for a three-day stay.  Natchez was founded by the French in 1716 and was known as Fort Rosalie.

Natchez gets its name from the Native American tribe that had lived here for at least 1,500 years before the French arrived to “found” the fort.  Let’s agree that the Natchez tribe or maybe an older group really founded Natchez.  The Spanish took possession of the area in 1779 and named the town “Natchez” in 1790.  The British actually took over from the French in 1763 (at the end of the 7-years war, A.K.A. the French and Indian War) and then ceded it to Spain in 1779.

The Spanish put some effort into building a permanent town.  Several of the buildings in town date from the 1790s.  Here is a residence, built in 1792.

While the USA was given this land as part of the peace settlement with England, no one told the Spanish that their city was now part of the USA.  Peacefully, the Spaniards lowered their flag and crossed over to the west side of the River, which was still Spanish territory.

Natchez was Mississippi's territorial capital.

 It surprised me that there was and is a thriving Roman Catholic and Jewish community in this Deep South city.

St Mary’s Cathedral:

Temple B’Nai Israel:

Not all the rest were Southern Baptist, as evidenced by the large Presbyterian Church.

Natchez is located by the Mississippi River.  During the heyday of the Trace, it was the last main port on the river that was in US territory.  At that time, New Orleans was in Spanish Territory.

Life in the country did not offer the lifestyle that many planters desired.  Many built their mansions in towns and cities and left the running of the plantations to hired overseers.  Natchez was a very wealthy city for these folk.  Many of their mansions remain and several are open for tours.  Some at modest price others seem to be a bit pricey. 

We toured Melrose Plantation home, which dates from 1849.  John McMurran  (A Pennsylvanian) arrived in Natchez in 1820.  He practiced law, was elected to the state legislature, married into a local family and began acquiring five plantations along with their slaves.  Melrose was to become the family home.  Some said Melrose was the finest home in Natchez.  John had the money to build and elaborately furnish his home. 

House slaves had quarters in two brick buildings behind the mansion. 

A hidden hallway on the first floor provided for unseen movement of all but a few serving slaves.

Elizabeth and George Malin Davis purchased Melrose in 1865.  It remained in the Davis family until 1976.  It was acquired by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1990. 

Our tour guide was a university student who had quite an insight into this mansion, as his grandfather spent the better part of his life as a butler to the Davis family and he had told this young man many stories of how life was lived at the mansion.  By happenstance, later that day we stopped at the Natchez Visitor Center.  It has some fantastic exhibits and a very good video.  I was told that there was also a National Park Visitor Center on the grounds.  I saw this very elderly black man (in his late 80s) in a National Park Uniform.  He must love his job, I thought.  Well, he was a retired NPS employee.  He told me that this was a joint venture visitor center with the city and then asked me if we had toured the Melrose.  I said we had just had the tour.  He said his grandson was giving the tour.  If that doesn’t beat all, this was the butler at the Melrose from many years ago.  I asked him if he had some time to visit, he said of course.  I hurried through the visitor center and found Jim and Sandy (Elaine was still away at her brother’s funeral services) and said you have to come with me.  We had a wonderful time listening to the stories of old times at the Melrose.  This was a very special hour for us.

A blues festival was being held at the time we were in town.  We attended one group’s gig and enjoyed the music.

So ended our time on the Trace; but wait, there’s much more to tell you.   The next section will center on Native American peoples on our trip (some on the Trace, some not).

2.  Native American history.  

Some say it was about 15,000 years ago that the first humans trod on the soils of the Americas; while others estimate it was 50,000 years in the past, and a few say it was even further back in the fog of time.  There were hundreds, if not thousands, of different Native American tribes.  We encountered a part of the history of a few tribes along our trip.  I felt it was appropriate to put these encounters in a section of their own.  This section will be organized on more of a time line rather than an as we experienced them.

Within the eastern portion drainage basin of the Mississippi River, a culture that has been designated “mound builders” flourished for many centuries.  Along and near to the Natchez Trace there are many sites that were constructed by these peoples.  The distinguishing feature is, not surprisingly, a large mound of earth.  Some contain burials, some artifacts and yet others, just a pile of soil.  Before they are cleared of trees that have grown upon them, it would be tough to say whether a feature was a mound or just a naturally occurring hill.  Aerial photography easily sorts this out.

An informative museum exhibit in Savannah, Tennessee gives a good account of the culture of these peoples and displays some exquisite artifacts.

A famous artifact made of red clay, the “kneeling man” was found near to the town of Savannah, TN.  Analysis of the figure’s material revealed that it was likely carved in the largest of the Mound Builders’ settlements in Cahokia, Illinois.

The many  Indian Mounds we encountered were:

Bynum Mounds (mile marker mm 232), built between 1800 to 2050 years ago.

 Pharr Mounds (mm 287), built between 1800 to 2000 years ago.

Owl Creek Mounds (off the trace at mm 243), built between 800 and 900 years ago and abandoned around 1200 AD.

About 800 years ago, a town occupied the high Tennessee River bluff at the eastern edge of the Shiloh plateau. Between two steep ravines, a wooden palisade enclosed seven earthen mounds and dozens of houses. Six mounds, rectangular in shape with flat tops, probably served as platforms for the town’s important buildings. These structures may have included a council house, religious buildings, and residences of the town’s leaders. The southernmost mound is an oval, round-topped mound in which the town’s leaders or other important people were buried.  The mounds are within the boundaries of the Shiloh Civil War Battlefield, and escaped destruction for farming purposes – a small benefit for the loss of life and limb that occurred here.

The largest of the mounds in this part of the Mississippi Valley is Emerald Mound (mm 10), an 8-acre mound built between 1200 AD to 1730 AD.  The mound is about 10 miles northeast of Natchez.  It is the 2^nd largest mound of all known mounds; surpassing it is Monk’s Mound near Cahokia, Illinois.  Today, it measures 35 feet high and its base measures 770 feet by 435 feet.  On top of the main mound are two secondary mounds, bringing the total height to 60 feet.  The mounds were built by hauling small baskets of soil and dumping the earth on the mound.  At long and tedious task.  There is a trail that allowed us to access the top of the mound.  As it is a Federally protected site, you are warned by signage of the consequences of disturbing the site.  Many smaller mounds were simply hauled away to fill low spots in the ground so that the land could be easily farmed.  The low spots were often the holes where the soil had originally come from ages ago.  Fortunately, we have many mounds that escaped destruction.

Bear Creek Mound (mm 308), a later mound built between 1400 AD and 1600 AD.  The information sign indicates that the site had been inhabited for 8,000 years – but the mound is of a more recent origin – so say the experts.

The Grand Village of the Natchez Peoples is located in Natchez.  The site is preserved by the State of Mississippi.  They were perhaps the last of the mound builders.  The site dates from about 700 AD and was still inhabited when the French made contact in 1682 AD.  The Natchez’s downfall came when they attacked the French garrison at Fort Rosalie (which is in Natchez) in 1729.  The French were really mad and eliminated these peoples and their village.  It is believed that the few survivors took refuge with other Indian tribes.  This brought the mound building era to a close.

There is a small museum on site, where further information can be gleaned.  Artifacts recovered from the site are also on display.

It is not known what happened to the mound builders and why the older mounds were abandoned.  The similarities to the Aztec stone buildings in central Mexico to the dirt mounds seems more than coincidence to me.  Perhaps they migrated south?

During the most active use of the Natchez Trace, much of the land in the southeastern USA was still in possession of what was known as the Five Civilized Tribes of Native Americans.  These tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole.  Many of the peoples of these tribes adopted the white man’s ways in terms of settlements, agriculture, dress and even religion.  They believed all the treaty promises given to them by the federal government.  They did not suspect that it was not adopting white man’s ways was not what was wanted.  What was wanted was their land for settlement.  Truly a shameful part of USA history. 

As early as 1803, President Jefferson had predicted that these peoples must be moved far away to the west.  As the decades passed, settlement pressures increased so much so that by 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Jackson.  However, in 1832, the Supreme Court said basically that this was not legal.  This ruling was ignored by Jackson.  In several waves, beginning in 1831, the greater part of the 5 tribes had been forced off their lands and were relocated in Oklahoma.  There was great loss of life in the resistance to the move and in the move itself. 

Our trip took us through the lands of the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw.  Near Tupelo, the Chickasaw Capital was located along the Trace.  All that remains are a few signs and footing of their village buildings.

North of Jackson, Mississippi the Chickasaw boundary with Choctaw lands is encountered along the Trace.  All that remains of their presence is a lonely sign along the Trace and in the place names of rivers and towns of the area.

Cherokee lands were north of the Natchez Trace; however, by happenstance, we stayed with a friend of Jim and Sandy’s who resides in Vonore, Tennessee.  In 1776, in the Cherokee village of Tuskegee (present day Vonore) a remarkable man was born. We know him as Sequoyah.  He was the son of a Virginia fur trader and the daughter of a Cherokee chief.  He fought alongside of General (future president) Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812.

During the war, he noted how the white man’s soldiers could keep in touch with their families by writing letters home.  Few, if any, of the Indians could read or write in the white man’s language.  After returning home in 1814, he began the process of developing a system which he reduced the thousands of Cherokee sounds into 85 symbols representing these sounds.

In 1821, Sequoyah and his daughter introduced his syllabary (not an alphabet) and within a few months, thousands of Cherokee became literate.  By 1825, the Bible had been translated into Cherokee and by 1828 the “Cherokee Phoenix” newspaper began publication.  Sequoyah eventually moved to Oklahoma and is believed to have died sometime between 1843 and 1845 during a trip to Mexico.  Sequoyah’s brilliance is represented by the quote:  “Never before, or since, in the history of the world has one person, not literate in any language, perfected a system for reading and writing a language.”  The quote remained true until Shong Lue Yang developed the Pahwah script for the Hmong language of Laos in the late 1950’s. 

During our travels, we visited several museums in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama that gave further history of the early peoples of these states.  While Vicksburg is chiefly noted for its role in the War Between the States, their museums also feature the history of the Native Americans.

The Alabama history museum in Montgomery similarly has a good portion of its exhibits focus on the early residents of the state.

3.  Military historic sites. 

We expected to visit several of the Civil War battlefields along our trip’s route.  We found many of these sites and some other somewhat surprising sites of military activity that was not of the Civil War era.

Twenty miles south of Tupelo on the Trace, we find the general area where Hernando De Soto crossed the future Trace in 1540.  De Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and most likely Arkansas), and the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi.  De Soto left Spain in 1520 and spent most of the rest of his years exploring and conquering in Costa Rica. Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and southeastern North America.

Near to the Chickasaw village, noted in the previous section, it is believed that DeSoto fought a battle with the Chickasaws, who resisted his attempts to force them to be porters for his group.  De Soto continued on his way and died of a fever in 1542.  It is believed that his troops wrapped his body in a blanket and weighed it down with sand and then consigned his remains to the Mississippi River.

The Spanish and French experiences in the Natchez area have already been noted,

A big surprise was to find the restored Fort Loudoun in Vonore, Tennessee.

This fort dates from the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War.  I had no idea that battles from this long ago conflict had occurred in Tennessee.  The main thing we learned in our history was about General Braddock’s defeat at Fort Duquesne and the battle at the Plains of Abraham, just outside the walls of Quebec City (see slutigram on the fall foliage trip in 2008). 

During this conflict, Fort Loudoun was on territory claimed by the State of South Carolina.  The various colonies had claims to western lands that extended all the way to the Mississippi River.  Several claims conflicted between the colonies.  When the colonies became independent, this became a source of internal conflict.  All of the colonies relinquished their claims with the adoption of the constitution in 1787.

Back to the fort . . .

To defend British claims to the Mississippi watershed, a garrison from South Carolina marched into the future eastern Tennessee and built the fort in 1756.

The Cherokee were allied with the British, but soon the relationship broke down and the Cherokee attacked the fort in August, 1760.  The British troops surrendered the fort along with all of the armaments. 

One of the actual canons has been found and was brought back to the reconstructed fort.

The fort’s visitor center has several displays that give a detailed narrative of the fort, its history and its reconstruction during the 1930s.

A monument to the War of 1812 is near the Natchez Trace. 

 If you recall anything about this long ago conflict it is likely to be (1) during this war Francis Scott Key wrote the words to our National Anthem; (2) the British burned the White House, and (3) the Battle of New Orleans, USA’s greatest victory of that conflict was on January 8, 1815.  Due to slow communications of that era, General Pakenham (British) and General Andrew Jackson (USA) were unaware that a peace treaty had been signed in Belgium on December 24, 1814.  In today’s world of instantaneous communication, instead of killing each other, the battlefield would have been a place where the troops would have rejoiced and maybe even partied with the former enemy.  Alas, more than 2,000 British troops, including 2 Generals were killed or wounded.  American casualties were fewer than 20. 

The Chalmette Battlefield is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and is located on the eastern part of New Orleans.

The reason for the one-sided casualty figures can still be seen in the topography.  The British were attacking over an open field against entrenched forces of the USA, who used cotton bales as protection.  The British could not get over the rampart and their bullets could not penetrate the bales.

During our trip we encountered many sites of the American Civil War, our most costly conflict in terms of loss of life than any war that the USA has been engaged in.  The causes of the war were varied and can be traced back to the founding of the nation.  Two major results of the war were the ending of the obnoxious practice of slavery in the “land of the free” and the establishment once and for all that the dictates of the central government were primary over the various states.  One could spend a lifetime trying to visit all of the sites of this war.  In Tennessee alone there are a few hundred sites of encounters.  I’ll try to be chronological as best as I can.

The first site visited never saw battle.  From February 1861 to late May of the same year the capitol of the confederacy was in Montgomery, Alabama.  After the State of Virginia seceded from the Union, the Capitol was moved to Richmond, Virginia.  The First White House of the Confederacy was the executive residence of Jefferson Davis and his family.

Surprisingly, the house was left standing during the war and was fully restored in 1921. There are only seven stars on the flag, as that was the number of states that had seceded at that time.  Eventually, 11 states withdrew from the union.  Later flags have 11 stars.

Many of the personal items or Mr. and Mrs. Davis are authentic.

Of course, we must give a nod to stamp collectors among us and I did visit the First CSA (Confederate States of America) Post Office headquarters in Montgomery.

A bit out of sequence here, but next to the White House is the Museum of Alabama.  It was worth the visit and its admission cost is free.  There are exhibits about the state, its geology, American Indians, its history from ancient times to modern day.  As far as military history, it had exhibits from the days of Spanish occupation.

Buttons and uniforms of very early conflicts are on display, as are many other items.

Ever been to Tangipahoa, Louisiana?  Sounds like a Maori or other Polynesian name to me.  Camp Moore is located there (www.campmoorela.com).  This was a training camp for soldiers during the Civil War.  It was established in May of 1861 and operated until Federal forces overran it in late 1864.  After the war, the fort became overgrown with trees.  Veterans of that conflict came back at the turn of the 20^th century and reclaimed and restored the cemetery, where the remains of many of the 800 soldiers who died at the camp are interred.  Nearly all died from disease or accidents.  

The Camp has a small visitor center, staffed by volunteers.  Inside it are artifacts of the war and the camp.

The main foci of the western theater of the War Between the States (AKA the American Civil war) were twofold.  Firstly, to deny the border states of Missouri and Kentucky the opportunity to secede from the Union by stationing troops in those states.  Secondly, to control the Mississippi River and several of its main tributaries, splitting the Confederacy and denying it a means of transport and resupply of provisions.  The advent of the railroad gave the Confederacy an ability to quickly move troops and artillery to where ever enemy forces were massing.   So, besides control of the rivers, control railroad junctions also became an objective.  

A main railroad junction existed in Corinth, Mississippi.

By February of 1862, General U.S. Grant had accomplished the first objective of removing Confederate forces from Kentucky and Middle Tennessee.  General Albert Sidney Johnston had massed his troops at Corinth while General Grant began landing his troops at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, just 22 miles north of Corinth.

 On April 6, 1862 the two forces met near the small country church at Shiloh. 

Today that battlefield is known as Shiloh National Military Park.  However, Southerners call this the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. The visitor center has the usual video and display that gives the history and importance of the events that occurred during those two days of confrontation.  Of the 66,000 Union and 44,700 Confederate troops, over 23,000 were killed wounded or missing after two days of engagement.  That is nearly a 21% casualty rate.  Today we count our casualties one by one; then they were counted in the thousands.  Such is the waste and hell of war.

The area was heavily forested with some agricultural fields.  The battle was fought over a large area as troops met in arms and then retreated back and forth.  A paved road lets today’s tourist visit several sites.  Along the road are many monuments and artillery pieces. The artillery pieces are from the war era, but are not necessarily from the battle, as they were placed long after the war had ended and there was no longer a use for these antiquated weapons of destruction.

The dead are honored differently.  The Union dead were gathered and buried in a central cemetery near the visitor center

 An all-too-common tombstone shows that the body interred below was unidentified.  Think of the anguish of the families that were to never know if their son/brother/father/husband was dead or alive or where or how they had died.

The Confederacy did not hold the field and their dead are buried where they fell, often in a mass grave.

A rare event of warfare occurred when commanding General Johnston was struck by a bullet that probably severed an artery in his leg.  He quickly bled to death.  The site of his death is marked by a much later constructed monument.  President Jefferson Davis and others had considered General Johnston to be his best General.

Within one month Corinth was captured, thus denying an important railroad junction to the South.  Our wanderings took us to Corinth right after our Shiloh visit.  Corinth was a frontier town at the time of the Civil War and was incorporated as a town in 1856.  It had a railroad junction of an east-west and north-south rail line and was thus a vital transport link that the Union wished to sever. 

A small visitor center has the usual flags, uniforms, armaments, etc. and a pretty good video.  The fortifications of a part of the original defense of the town are on this site.

After Shiloh, the town was overwhelmed with sick and wounded southern casualties.  On May 29^th, 1862 Southern forces withdrew from Corinth, as they had not recovered from the battle losses and the town was occupied by the Federal army.  An attempt to retake the town occurred in October of 1862, but failed.  In January 1864, Federal forces abandoned the town, burning a greater part of the town on their way out.  While the federal forces occupied Corinth thousands of “contraband” sought refuge there.  “Contraband” was the word used to refer to the slaves who were seeking freedom and protection from their former masters.  Many of these men subsequently were organized into military units and fought with distinction during the remainder of the conflict.  Thus disproving the common belief that the slaves could never make good soldiers.  A lesson that remained unlearned until well into World War II.  Even at this late date (the 1940s), black troops mainly did labor intense work, drove trucks or worked in military kitchens.  Their prowess in conflict remained unrecognized and was a source of ill feelings between black troops and the military establishment.

By December of 1862, the Union advance into Confederate territory had stalled on all fronts.  On December 31^st, 1862 through January 2, 1863 the two armies battered each other near Murfreesboro, Tennessee east of Nashville.  The battle is known as the Battle of Stones River.  Another battle, another visitor center and another cemetery.

 The Union forces were victorious, by the definition of victory at the end of the battle; they held the field and the Confederates retreated.  The casualties were:  Union 13,249, Confederates 10,266.  I’d say they both lost.

The remains of the earthen works defenses are scattered throughout the town.  Fortress Rosecrans (the Union General) Brannan Redoubt is in pretty good shape and is on a busy road in town.

Besides Sherman’s March to the Sea and the Burning of Atlanta, Georgia, the Vicksburg Campaign is the most widely known campaign in the Western Theater of the war.  By late summer of 1862, only Vicksburg, Mississippi and Port Hudson, Louisiana blocked the Union’s complete control of the Mississippi River.  Forces under General Grant crossed the Mississippi on April 30, 1863 and began a series of battles that culminated in the siege of Vicksburg. 

One day after crossing the Mississippi River, Union forces routed the Confederates at Port Gibson.

The next encounter of any size was on May 12^th at the Battle of Raymond, which is on the way to Jackson, the State capitol.  A sign on the Natchez Trace explains the battle and outcome.

A series of other battles led Grant's army to the fortifications at Vicksburg.  Union forces made several attempts to seize the well-fortified town during the period after May 18, but were repulsed in every instance.  A 6-week siege followed which ended on July 4, 1863 when General Pemberton surrendered.  A few days later, the Confederates withdrew from Port Hudson.  The Confederacy was now split down the middle and Grant had accomplished his goal.  Soon after, he was given the command of the Eastern Theater of the War, as he fought and he won.

The town of Vicksburg and its battlefield are a must see if you want to get a feel of what it was like to be under siege and to see the lines of siege of the two armies.  First stop is, surprise! The visitor center of the battlefield.

On display are some unique items.  Pictured from the battle is a cannonball embedded in a tree.

Portraits of the military commanders.

A 16-mile road winds along the lines of engagement.  Blue signs are for Union units and Red for Confederate.  Take your time and stop at as many as you can to see where these brave souls fought and died so long ago. We spent about a half day on the field.

The fortifications remain along with some artillery pieces.

Long after the war, several states and other organizations erected monuments to their fallen citizens.  Most were erected before the last veteran of that war passed away in 1959.  In my mind, the most impressive was the State of Illinois monument.  Inside the monument the names of all the fallen from that state appear on bronze plaques arranged by military unit.

Other state monuments include in this order Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin (there may be other state memorials, but I have no photos of them).

A recently added monument is to the African American soldiers who fell here.

Associated with Vicksburg, but not part of the siege is the Ironclad riverboat “Cairo” which was sunk while clearing mines on the Yazoo River below the bluffs of the town of Vicksburg in December of 1862.  Just as recounted about the Steamboat Arabia in the slutigram titled Happenings April through July 2008, the Cairo was encased in river mud which protected it from deterioration for 102 years.  In 1964, the boat was raised from the muck and has been restored since then.  The last time we visited Vicksburg (2003) the restoration was not at the stage that it is now.  You can walk the decks and peruse the items found on the boat in a small museum at the site.  The iron and wood you see are originals not replicas.

Right across the road from the boat is another National Cemetery, where Union soldiers are buried.  The Confederates were left where they fell and then unceremoniously dumped in mass unmarked graves.

After spending hours touring, we stopped at a local bakery and each had a cinnamon roll, yummy.
They each weighed 8 pounds (nearly 4 kilos) and were the size of a loaf of bread.

Truthfully, we just looked at the rolls in wonder.

The City of Vicksburg and its citizens suffered through the 6-week siege.  They dug caves in the soil and lived there during Union bombardments.  Food disappeared, as did pets, rats and all sorts of vegetation during this time.  The Old Courthouse Museum has several exhibits focused on the war and several on other history of the city.  Jefferson Davis was a resident of this county and began his political career here.

Four rail lines converged at Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The small town of 2,500 lay alongside the Tennessee River, making it an obvious target for the next Union advance.    In September of 1863, Confederate forces withdrew from Chattanooga.  Union General Rosecrans believed that this was going to be a retreat to Atlanta.  He was surprised on September 18-20 when he was attacked in strength at Chickamauga, Georgia which is within a few miles of Chattanooga.  A small visitor center graces this battleground and a loop road takes you through the historic area with monuments and graves of the fallen.  The picture of the Spencer Rifle has quite a bit of relevance to the latter years of this conflict.  Up until 1863, Confederate and Union forces had similar infantry weapons.  You shot one shot, then reload powder, wadding and bullet and then use a ramrod to pack it all in before shooting another round and then repeat the process.  The Spencer Rifle was introduced to some units of Union infantry.  It was a game changer, as you loaded 7 cartridges, after each shot you simply moved the lever near the trigger.  This ejected the spent cartridge and loaded another one.  Besides that, you could load 7 new cartridges in less time than it took to load one round in the old rifles.  Firepower was changed from a few rounds a minute to dozens per minute, giving the Union forces a great advantage.

However, even with the Spencer, the Union forces were put on the run back into the town of Chattanooga.  For the next two months, the Confederates held these forces under siege, as they held the high ground at Lookout Mountain, just on the other side of the river.  Here are views of Lookout Mountain taken from Chattanooga and of Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain.  The river loops around Chattanooga at Moccasin Bend.  Any ships using the river for movement of troops or supplies would have been shot out of the water by the artillery.  During November 23-25, General Grant ordered his troops to take Lookout Mountain and assault the strength of the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg at Missionary Ridge.  The conflict at Lookout Mountain became known as the battle above the clouds.  I don’t know how the Union forces did it, but they fought their way up the mountain and dislodged the southerners and then due to a mix up, the southerners forgot to join their lines on Missionary Ridge.  Fortuitously, Union forces attacked in the weakly defended part of the ridge and ended up dividing the Confederate forces.  Bragg was forced to withdraw to Georgia.

Along the Natchez Trace, north of Tupelo, Mississippi (mm 269) in the quiet of the forest are the graves of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers.  They likely died from battle wounds from the battle at Tupelo or from illness.

More soldiers died from illness during the war than in battle.  While it cannot be known for certain, the historical consensus is summarized below.

The Union armies had from 2,500,000 to 2,750,000 men. Their losses, by the best estimates:

Battle deaths:	110,070
Disease, etc.:	250,152
Total	360,222

        The Confederate strength, known less accurately because of missing records, was from 750,000 to 1,250,000. Its estimated losses:

Battle deaths:	94,000
Disease, etc.:	164,000
Total	258,000

Tupelo is known for a more famous event than its Civil War battle which took place on July 14-15, 1864.  The Confederates tried and tried to push the Federals out; but the Federal forces could not be dislodged.  By mid 1864, the war's outcome could no longer be in doubt, the South was near exhaustion and its resources to continue resistance were running low.

Much of the battlefield has been lost to development in this somewhat prosperous city.  A small park (maybe a small half-block in area) on a main highway in the city and another outside of town can be visited.

The final battlefield of this war that we happened on was in Selma, Alabama.  In the closing days of the Civil War in April 1865, the fortifications protecting Selma were thinly defended and quickly fell to the invading Federal troops.  The only thing we saw was this one lonely marker to note what had occurred here.  This was not the last battle of the war (see slutigram Winter 2013 in Texas Palmetto Ranch), but the last battlefield which we encountered on this trip.

What was perhaps as interesting was that nearby was another marker that commemorated the visit of the French General Lafayette to Selma in 1825, 50 years after he had come to America to fight alongside General George Washington.  The last Surviving French General who served in the American Revolution toured 24 states (which was all of them in 1825) from July 1824 to September of 1825.

The final conflict site (we have had too many wars) that we visited was the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.  Elaine and Sandy decided to wander the streets of NOLA (aka New Orleans, Louisiana) while Jim and I spent the whole day at this museum.  The sign explains why the museum is located here.

Exhibits and videos cover 3 very large buildings.  Jim and I went our separate ways and met up at closing time.  The museum covers all the theaters of conflict where USA forces were involved.  Betio was a battle on a small Pacific Island part of the Tarawa Atoll, which today is part of the nation of Kiribati.

Only recently, it was in the news in September 2016, were the remains of several marines found from this long ago battle and were brought home to the USA.  Several found their final rest in Arlington National Cemetery.  While it has become somewhat popular these days to question why Truman dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.  Some say the Japanese were going to surrender, others dispute this.  The Japanese soldier would never surrender, preferring death to dishonor.  Even after the bombs leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military urged the emperor to fight on.  Fortunately, the emperor said no, he would surrender, thus avoiding the bloodbath that was estimated to cost at least 1,000,000 allied casualties and uncountable Japanese deaths.

Let us move on to other things.

4.  Civil Rights. 

Sandy asked that we include some of the famous Civil Rights places from the 1960s.  We focused on Selma and Montgomery, Alabama along with a few other places in Mississippi.

Selma, Alabama was the home of at least 15,000 voting age African Americans in the 1950s.  Through various methods, local officials were denying their right to vote.  To evidence this, only 156 were registered to vote in 1961.  Such skewed statistics were all too common during that era.  In February 1964, Martin Luther King was asked to come to Selma to draw national attention to this injustice.  He was jailed and wrote his famous “Letter from a Selma Jail” which helped ignite outrage all around the USA.  It was decided to march on the capitol at Montgomery beginning at Selma near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an apt symbol of the racism of this area at that time.  The bridge was named after a Confederate Civil War General, later a Democrat US Senator and Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.

The National Park Service has two Interpretive Centers along the route of the March, one in Selma and one about halfway to Montgomery.  We visited both places and the Alabama History Museum in Montgomery to learn more about those troubled times.

In Montgomery we spent some time at the Civil Rights Memorial and Interpretive Center.   Maya Lin designed the memorial.  She is the same person who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Ms Lin uses the power of names etched in stone and flowing water in this monument.

Montgomery is the state capitol of Alabama and it was from there that Governor George Wallace made his attempts to resist the civil rights movement.

In his final years, Wallace recognized the error of his ways and became a supporter of Civil Rights for all citizens, but he had caused much damage before that time.  He was the longest serving governor of any state at the time.  Iowa Governor Terry Branstad broke his record in 2014 when he exceeded 16 years in that office.  Wallace also ran for USA President on four different elections.  In 1968 he won over 10 million votes and took 46 electoral votes, all from former Confederate states.

In Mississippi we found several places relevant to African Americans and to the Civil Rights Movement.

I found the story of Port Gibson especially interesting.  Port Gibson is a county seat and numbers less than 1,600 in population.  It is 80% Black and is poor.  The other 20% are mainly white and many trace their presence back to the cotton plantation era before the Civil War.  Protests during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s against local business practices (most businesses in town were owned by the 20% white) ended up with a boycott of these businesses.  The owners of which fired many of their black employees.  Many of the businesses then failed.  Today, it is a quiet town, with many shuttered establishments, a casualty of the movement.  We never saw another person during our time in Port Gibson, just empty streets and buildings, not even a stray dog was seen.

Natchez has a Museum Of African American Art and History, with artifacts and artwork on display.  As far as I can find, the Mighty Fire was not a racially motivated event. It is believed to have started from a carelessly discarded match.

5.  New Orleans.

Four days were spent in New Orleans.  It was nice not to have to travel long distances for a while.  Besides the WW II Museum, we took in many of the sites of NOLA.  The mighty Mississippi is only a short distance from where is enters the Gulf of Mexico.  Traveling on an old-time steam riverboat is a fitting way to see the environs of NOLA.  The “Natchez” takes half-day trips on the river.

Part of the fare covers a lunch while underway.  The menu included fish, hush puppies, etc.  A fair meal, but nothing to brag about.  As we travel downriver, many barges, ships and riverboats for the tourists are seen. 

Various NOLA buildings, factories and an old damaged wharf are cruised by.

We are told that the level of a major flood in 1965 can be seen in the discolored brick of the building pictured.  You may have to click on this pic to enlarge it to clearly see the water damage line.

Sampling the local cuisine tickled our taste buds.  The Café du Monde (Café of the world) provides the famous beignet, a deep fried dough-ball smothered in powdered sugar.  The pastry comes in a paper bag.  If you save the sugar remaining in the bag, it can take care of your baking needs for weeks.  This is one of the must go to places in NOLA.  Every tour group drops its busloads here, with the result of very long lines to get the pastry and coffee.  Another bakery sells beignets, about a block away, for half the price and without a waiting line.  I suppose the tour guides get a cut of the sales for directing their charges to the famous site.

Elaine’s brother recommended that we try a meal at Pascal’s restaurant.  It is located in a quiet suburb of NOLA.  All of us were glad that we took his advice.  I had some Creole shrimp in brine along with a potato dish – yummy.  Our bibs were a necessity if you wanted to keep your clothing dry.

The French Quarter has many buildings dating back to the 1790’s.  Some are kept up well, others not so much.

The Basilica of St. Louis looks like the Disneyland Castle.  Inside, it looks like a European Church.  Its history goes back to Spanish ownership days.

Music can be found everywhere. Solo and groups perform on the streets and in many of the restaurants.  With so much competition, the quality of play is good.

The famous playwright, Tennessee Williams once lived in NOLA and wrote several well-known plays while resident.

The above-ground cemeteries of NOLA draw the tourists in by the busload; in our case, by the carload. St. Louis #1 Cemetery is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Our tour guide is professional and doesn’t dwell on silly ghost stories, rather she explained the history of the cemetery, why the bodies are above ground, how many can be entombed in one mausoleum, etc.  Why above ground?  If you were to dig a hole, within a few inches the water table would be struck, making for a very messy situation not amenable to sanitation.

If you read the dates on this grave, you can see that the first person in this tomb took up residency in 1884, followed by several more, as recent as 1994.  Doesn’t it get a bit crowded in there?  We are told that the heat and humidity reduce the remains to bones in only a few years.  The bones are pulverized and dropped down a chute in the structure, making way for the next burial.

The xxx’s are supposed to indicate that this person was a voodoo priest or priestess.

Some crypts are owned by a family or an organization, while others are merely rented out until the body can be put down the chute.

Some other crypts have just sunk or are sinking into the soil and are no longer usable.

A lot was learned and a lot of fun was had during these four days in The Big Easy.  Legend has it that the earliest use of the Big Easy had to do with the fact that there were so many ways for a good musician to make a living in New Orleans.  Another possible origin for the nickname is connected to the relaxed attitude toward alcohol consumption that was found in New Orleans, even during the days of Prohibition.  The relatively low cost of living in New Orleans, in comparison to many major US cities, has also been suggested as the origin of the nickname.  Take your pick or just make up another reason.  Bye NOLA

6.  Other interesting places.

Not everything that we did and saw can easily fit into my 5 categories.  I’ll end this narrative by citing some of these.

Trying to get a flavor of the south, we avoided chain restaurants and sampled some of the local dietary fare.  I tried mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens and found that, with butter, they all were palatable.   In Vonore, Tenn. we toured Benton Hams, a smokehouse, and were given some of their delicious product. 

Little Doohey’s in Starkville, Miss. provided us the opportunity to feast on local BBQ dishes and various types of greens.  It is definitely a locals place, but they are welcoming to tourists.  The BBQ trailer is impressive, to say the least.

The rocking Chair Café in Hohenwald, Tenn. gave us a nice mid-day break.

The Tomato place in Natchez is mainly a seller of fresh vegetables, but they also sell delicious sandwiches.  I did not try the boiled peanuts, as I have tried them before and found them wanting.

Also in Natchez, the Bellemont Shake Shop, an old time drive-in restaurant offers some fantastic milk shakes.  There is no inside seating and credit/debit cards are an unknown.

Weidemann’s in Meridian, Miss. was established in 1870 and is the oldest restaurant still operating in the State.  Great food and reasonable prices.  Cloth tablecloths and cloth napkins – nary a bit of plastic to be seen.  That’s peanut butter in the bucket.  You are encouraged to eat as much as you like of it.

Surprisingly, I actually lost a couple of pounds on this trip in spite of all the great restaurants.

While passing through Columbus, Miss., we spotted the home of the playwright Tennessee Williams, whose New Orleans apartment we stumbled upon later on.  The home reflects his humble origins

Speaking of boyhood homes, Tupelo was the home of one of my favorite performers, the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.  His home makes Tennessee William’s home look like a palace in comparison.  More Elvis stamps.  As the entrance fee was exorbitant, we passed on seeing the inside of the home.

 You may have seen this postage stamp picturing Elvis last year.  This was the 4^th time he has appeared on an U.S. postage stamp.  He has appeared on hundreds of foreign postage stamps; most notably by small African and Pacific Island nations as a means to earn revenue from stamp collectors and Elvis collectors.

Near Flora, Miss. roughly 36 Million years ago a log jam resulted in many trees being buried, they became fossilized and are now part of the Mississippi Petrified Forest.  This called for a detour from our main route.  A walking trail takes you through the forest where the petrified logs are in abundance.  They have long been buried in the loess soils, but as the soil is weathered away by the wind and rain out pop the ancient logs.  Besides the trail, a rock shop exhibits many gemstones to include phosphorescent stones.  Well worth the detour.

Some like it hot, especially on Avery Island, Louisiana.  This is the home of Tabasco Sauce, the product of the McIlhenny Company since it’s founding in 1868, still owned and operated by Edward McIlhenny’s descendants.  A self-guided tour takes one through the process of how the sauce is produced.  A very nice gift shop is on the property (surprise, another gift shop) where various hot stuff can be purchased.  Additionally, a restaurant enables you to use some on their product on your meal.

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All this hot sauce is making me thirsty, so I’ll end this very long slutigram of our Natchez Trace and other places trip.  Hope you enjoyed it.  If you made it this far, congratulations.  If a typo or two or incorrect info is contained herein, please let me know so that I can make corrections.