We have had no Internet connection over the past several days. We drove 340 miles from Pensacola to Natchez, MS on April 14th, and spent three nights at Natchez State Park, which is about 7 miles out of town. Right now, Mississippi is a sea of green, with its lush hardwood forest in its explosion of new growth, green grass, and acres of blooming crimson clover. The campsite we had at the state park was beautiful, but full of deer ticks, which seemed to appear out of nowhere on me and on Cooper. Found three of them on me during our stay; luckily none of them was attached.
We explored the old river town of Natchez, which is an older settlement than New Orleans. Many of the town's buildings, both residential and commercial, date from the late 18th century to the mid 19th. At one time, there were more millionaires residing there than in any other town in the US except New York. These were the “Nabob Planters” (plantation owners who thought they were really special people) who led regal lifestyles in their Greek Revival mansions, only to be done in by the demise of slavery, carpetbaggers, yellow fever, and the bollwevil. Their lavish mansions exist today as museums and bed-and- breakfast inns. One of them, Melrose Estate, was purchased by the National Park Service, as its original furnishings had been preserved intact from the 1840's. (A former slave stayed on and cataloged all the house's contents, which somehow managed to escape pillaging during the Civil War.) The home's interior is extravagantly opulent (see the interior pix).
Natchez is the best preserved antebellum town in the US. It fell so easily to the Union army during the Civil War that there was no need to destroy it. It is definitely a functioning town, not a museum. Of course, it has a Wal Mart.
We spent yesterday and today driving on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is 470 miles long. It is administered by the National Park Service, and follows the route of the first overland road developed by the US in the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. (The trace is an amalgam of trails developed by animal migration, Indians, and settlers.) Goods were shipped downstream on the Mississippi from the Memphis to Natchez on flatboats, which were then put ashore, disassembled, and sold for lumber. Their boatmen would then take their proceeds and hike or ride back up to Nashville on the Natchez Trace to repeat the process. The Trace served as a highway through the wilderness for settlers, itinerant preachers, postriders, and outlaws, as well as boatmen. Those who traveled on the Trace had to deal with robbers, hostile Indians, disease, and insects. When steamboats began traveling on the Mississippi in 1811, the Trace was gradually abandoned. Now, only small sections of the original trail exist. The ruts wore deeply into the landscape, sometimes as much as 30 feet deep! You can still hike sections of the “sunken trace”.
The Trace Parkway is unique, in that there are very few signs of human habitation along the way. There are no billboards, or many other signs of man. For miles, there is a continuous wall of trees and grass on both sides of the road. It has been a rare treat to drive the Trace, as there has been almost no traffic, the road is velvet smooth, and has a 50 mph speed limit. There are no commercial vehicles allowed.
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