We headed for downtown Natchez where we found this interestingly decorated home:
Natchez sits on a bluff high above the Mississippi river:
Below on the banks of the river lies Under-The-Hill, once the beginning of the ancient Natchez Trace, a major river port and the world's most flourishing cotton market of its day. Today there are a few restaurants and the Isle of Capri gambling riverboat:
Back in the day, this was a major port for slave trading. In town there's a historical site marking the area where trading took place called "forks of the road":
Natchez has many antebellum (pre-civil war) homes. We toured Rosalie which was Ft Rosalie held by the Union troops during the civil war. Our tour guide explained that although they didn't (and perhaps still don't) agree with the Union General Gresham's politics, they were thankful he had all of the furniture put in the attic at the time of the war. It was all saved and is now on display inside
You couldn't take pictures inside but what a view from the balcony:
The grounds here were nicely maintained with flowers growing everywhere. We were here while the Daughters of the American Revolution were in full dress as they gave us the tour:
One of the oldest roads in the world is in the southeastern part of the United States, and crosses Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. It is the 450 mile long Natchez Trace Parkway. The Indians traded and hunted along it, the Kaintuck boatmen stomped it into a rough wilderness road on their way back from trading their farm goods in Spanish Natchez and New Orleans and soldiers made it a link between the Mississippi Territory and the newly formed United States from 1800 to 1830. Today it is a nicely paved road lined with wild flowers:
The Natchez Trace has Indian temple mounds and Indian village sites that existed as long ago as 8000 B.C. Some of these sites were occupied by human beings long before the building of the ancient pyramids of Egypt. Emerald Mound, located on the Natchez Trace, is the second largest ceremonial earthwork in the U.S.
It was built over two centuries before Columbus landed in America, by Native Americans known as Mississippians. Wasn't much of a challenge for us to climb:
Louisiana is just across the river from Natchez. The land on LA side of the river lies much lower. The Mississippi floods the land and leaves rich soil behind for growing. One day we drove to the Frogmore Plantation & Gin in Frogmore, LA:
Frogmore is an 1800 acre cotton plantation which is still in operation today. We toured several of the restored antebellum structures here. Dorothy (who told us her grandfather was a slave on this plantation) describes what would be cooked here in the central kitchen:
Miss Susie was help'n by pick'n cotton (with her coach purse under arm):
We saw a lot of authentic old equipment used including this very impressive gin:
The tour was very educational with a hint that the slaves were treated very well here and perhaps they may
have been better off as slaves as they had no where to go once freed (interesting spin).
Back at camp we made friends with this cute little guy. Someone had left him here 6 months ago but between the park rangers and campers like us, he was well fed:
Overall this was a nice park to stay at. Fishing in the lake here is big as some record bass was caught here. If you are into the antebellum houses there are many here to tour. We had enough and now are off to see Elvis at Graceland - Memphis Tennessee. More to come . . .
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