Thursday we decided to ride north on the Natchez Trace parkway and view some of the history in this area. After a delicious (ok fast) breakfast at the closest McDonalds we hit US 61 to learn about Natchez Trace. First stop, Emerald Mound - the second largest Indian Mound in the U.S. Eight acres, built by the ancestors of the Natchez Indians and used for all sorts of things, including human sacrifices, from 1200 to around 1730. Stopping next at Mount Locust Inn and Plantation, we spent several
minutes with one of the volunteers getting the background before taking Hazel up to the restored inn.
Mount Locust is the only one of about 50 inns or way stations that remains on The Trace. It was the first the boatmen or "Kaintucks" came to on The Trace when walking back north from Natchez where they had sold their goods. These men floated flatboats down the Mississippi to sell their goods in Natchez or New Orleans. Since going on to the Big Easy would have added weeks or more to the trip, many elected to use Natchez. Before riverboats, these men had to walk or buy a horse (at premium prices of course) to return to Nashville some 500 miles north. Most chose to walk and could cover 15-20 miles a day. That made Mount Locust the perfect first stop over. For $.25 ($37-$40 in today's prices) they received corn mush and milk and sleeping arrangements on the porches and grounds.
In 1785, Mount Locust was a simple homestead but the growing number of travelers compelled the owners to turn their home into a "stand", a crude inn. As business prospered they added a four room, two story annex behind the house, considered a luxury not readily found on Old Natchez Trace. Unfortunately, by mid-1820's the steamboat and other roads pretty much brought an end to Natchez Trace and after 1825 the inn catered only to Natchez residents looking for rural solitude. Slavery was part of this Inn's history too, with the 1820 census listing 26 enslaved people at Mount Locust and by the mid 19th century as many as 51. The site includes a cemetary holding the remains of 43 enslaved workers as well as a separate burial area for the Ferguson-Chamberlain family.
The National Park Service has restored the house to it's 1820 appearance, with free admission and interpretive programs. You can visit both cemeteries and actually walk a short trail beside the house to the original Trace. Definitely worth a stop.
After this it was time for lunch. Note to self in future - Have it with you. There are plenty of places to stop and picnic, but few place to find anything else. I am guessing you have figured we didn't think ahead - and you would be right. So we decided to visit the Windsor Ruins, off The Trace on 552 and then get lunch, making this a well thought out stop. Guess again. I took my eyes off the road for 2 minutes to look up info on the Windsor Ruins and we must have whizzed right by. Next thing we are in Port Gibson discussing food and thinking about going back. Again (surprise, surprise ) food wasn't readily available. Looking for even snacks by then, we stopped at the local Citgo diner. We ended up sharing fried chicken of the day as our entree with a peanut butter cracker chaser, yummmm. Then we went back to look for those ruins. In retrospect, I can see why Bruce originally missed the small, overgrown sign and the narrow clay road leading into the woods but I was ready this time. We both ended up pleased we had returned. All that is left of what was the largest antebellum house in Mississippi are the Corinthian columns but they are indeed impressive. The house and furnishings had cost $175,000 in the mid 1800s, it weathered the Civil War intact and was used by both armies, only to burn to the ground in 1860 as a result of a party goer's careless cigarette. All that remained were a wrought iron stair case now at Alcorn University Chapel and the impressive columns pictured below.
After all this running around (would you believe we didn't go more than 30 miles on The Trace) we headed back to camp, stopping for the requisite ice and ginger ale. We are currently being wimps inside Tempy with the heater on and drinks in hand. It is too cold with dropping temperatures (OK, it is only 59 but very windy) for outside social hour, even if we are inclined to spy on the rest of the arriving campers. Now to figure how to get this posted. Later....
It's 2 days later and we are off again to Alley Creek Campground, just outside Jefferson, TX. Posting in arrears obviously.
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