Showing posts with label #NatchezTrace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #NatchezTrace. Show all posts

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Pharr Indian Mounds Natchez Trace


Trade from Afar
Around 2,000 to 1,800 years ago native people built Pharr Mounds, a complex of eight dome-shaped mounds, spread over 90 acres.
One of the largest Middle Woodland era mound sites in the region, Pharr Mounds was near a sizable village. The people there attracted a trade for everyday items and ceremonial objects. 

A vast trading network stretched from the southeastern US to the shores of Lake Ontario. Over hundreds of linked trails, objects of copper, mica, greenstone, and shell found their way to Pharr Mounds. People from smaller local villages then came here to obtain exotic goods. 
Natchez Trace ParkwayAll natural and cultural resources along the Natchez Trace Parkway are protected by federal laws.

Objects and Ideas
Mounds Along the Natchez Trace Parkway 
200 BCE
Middle Woodland Period
Bynum Mounds
Pharr Mounds 
Late Woodland Period 800 CE
Boyd Mounds 
Mangum Mounds
Early Mississippian Period 1000CE 1200CE 
Bear Creek Mounds
Late Mississippian Period 1400CE 1600CE 
Emerald Mound
People from the Woodland era created some of the finest crafts and artwork in North America. For inspiration, they turned to the natural world and their understanding of the universe. The objects they created in metal, stone, and shell were prized from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Since many of the traded objects had a spiritual meaning or were linked to religious ceremonies, it is clear that ideas traveled with the trade. Though there were local variations, American Indians throughout today's eastern US understood and related to the imagery skillfully applied to pipes, jewelry, fabric, and pottery.

Coming Home 
Coming Home
Like the native peoples who lived near Pharr Mounds cultures around the world and across time built monuments and lasting memorials. Mounds like these are some of the earliest remaining monuments in North America.

Skillfully designed and built, these mounds are a source of wonder and pride, Spiritually enduring, they become the cornerstone of civic and religious ceremonies and rituals.

Modern Chickasaw feels a strong bond with Pharr Mounds and considers them sacred. Many return here as a part of a pilgrimage to their ancestral homeland.

"I am astounded by the levels of the science of spirituality, and community and organization evident in the creation and existence of Pharr Mounds and how it related to the larger region. I am proud of my ancestors."

Kirk Perry
Executive Officer for Historic Preservation
Chickasaw Nation

Pharr Indian Mounds Markers
Pharr Indian Mounds

Thursday, August 23, 2018

2018 Aug 22, Kermits Outlaw Kitchen & Sites Tupelo, MS.

Hubby and I rode south on Natchez Trace, stopping at Pharr Mounds where we saw three markers overlooking the Indian Mounds. Trade from Afar, Objects, and Ideas, and Coming Home. 

Pharr Mounds 
Pharr Mounds Rest Area
We stopped at Natchez Trace Visitor Center Saltillo near Tupelo a part of the National Park Service. 
The ranger gave me a map of the Trail of Tears. I also picked up Explore the Natchez Trace Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee A Unique Journey from Natchez to Nashville, and a book about Natchez Mississippi (I hope to visit Natchez shortly).

There were signs throughout the center Natchez Trace Parkway Center, The Heyday of the Old Trace, Transition, Who Traveled the Old Trace, The Old Southwest, The Mission to Remember, Traces of Tribes, and a bust of Meriwether Lewis. 

Visitor Center Natchez Trace Mississippi

Visitor Center Natchez Trace Mississippi
We stopped at the Tupelo Automobile Museum where we saw over 100 various restored cars from the turn of the century to the present day car.  
The tour begins with a brief history of the museum and its founder Frank Spain.
We saw a 1976 Lincoln Mark IV owned by Elvis Presley, Liberace's Barrister, one used in the movie The Great Race, New York to Paris, Richard Petty #23 NASCAR, BB King's Rolls Royce, & Chevy El Camino. We saw the 1948 Tucker, 1920 Cord L-29, 1937 Lagonda, and 1929 Duesjnberg, just to name a few.
Liberace's 1982 black "Barrister" Corvette was one of only seven made by California customizer George Barris. The extended body, multiple side pipes, and golden radiator grill were common to all seven, but the full-size candelabra bolted to the trunk is exclusively Liberace.
Richard Petty #43 NASCAR HE won his 200th and final race in Daytona
Elvis Presley 1976 Royal Blue Lincoln Mark IV
This car was given to a policeman who oversaw Elvis's security.
BB King 1978 Rolls Royce 
We stopped at the newly remodeled Tupelo Welcome Center on display is Tuple’s, Elvis Story. Welcome to Tupelo and Elvis's Musical influence in Gospel, Country, Blues, and Modern Music. 

Elvis influenced Music in the gospel, Blues, Country, and Modern 
In Tuple’s Fair Park stands a statue of Elvis Presley holding a microphone and holding his hand out to welcome his fans. 
On October 3, 1945, a ten-year-old Elvis played to his first crowd on these grounds and took 5th place in a talent show.

We also saw a plaque with a picture of Elvis holding a guitar and guitars throughout the town of Tupelo.
The Elvis Presley statue stands on the site of the old fairgrounds where the concert took place, created by Mississippi sculptor Bill Beckwith.
We were told that Kermit's Outlaw Kitchen has the best food in town. 
So, we each ordered a fully loaded hamburger and fries.
Kermit's Outlaw Kitchen purchases its food from local farmers. The food was delicious. (One of the best hamburgers that I have eaten in a long time.)
Outside Kermits’s was a pile of wood, and a raccoon holding a shotgun. 

Inside hanging on the wall was the outlaw Willie Nelson. 
Outlaw Burger 
Kermit's Outlaw Kitchen
KOK is a wood-fired grill that uses the freshest meats produced from local farms.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

2017 Aug 18, Traveling South on Natchez Trace

Had an eye appointment then lunch at Burger King (Whopper Junior, onion rings, and drink).
I took  20/Savannah Highway to Natchez Trace traveling toward Colbert County.
I stopped to take pictures of Rock Springs, Rock Springs Trail, and Tiny Jewels of the Air Markers.
Tiny Jewels of the Air
Few birds are as distinctive and charismatic as hummingbirds. From their iridescent plumage to their incredible aerial antics, hummingbirds are an irresistible attraction at Rock Springs. Each fall, hundreds of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds pass this way to feast on the nectar of the abundant jewelweed and other wildflowers.

Hummingbirds and certain flowers have evolved an interdependent relationship over millions of years. Flowers provide hummingbirds nectar, the fuel they need to keep flying. In return, hummingbirds transport pollen between flowers, helping the flowers reproduce.

The flowers of choice are long and tubular and usually red, a color bees have trouble seeing. This shape fits the hummingbird’s long bill and allows pollen to be deposited on the bird’s forehead. Individual flowers usually grow separate from one another, allowing ample space for whirring wings as the hummingbird dashes from flower to flower. Pollen from flowers powders the head of these tiny jewels as they sip nectar. Subsequently, this pollen is then spread to other flowers on which the hummingbird feeds.

Faster Than a Speeding Hummingbird?
A hummingbird’s small size and rapid movement can make it difficult to watch for long. Fortunately, hummingbirds will often perch on an overhead branch and draw attention to themselves
by making high squeaky chipping noises. To spot a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, look for its iridescent throat--called a gorget. The color of the gorget depends on the lighting and in most instances looks dark. It is only when the feathers catch the light at a certain angle that their intricate beauty can be seen. In good light, the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is unmistakable with his bright ruby-red throat.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration
Each year, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate from eastern North America to winter in Central America. Although some of the birds work their way south through Florida to the Caribbean or through Texas to Mexico, Alabama’s hummingbirds fly across the Gulf of Mexico. These incredible creatures undertake a 600-mile voyage across open water to find warm weather and plentiful nectar further south.

Rare Surprises From the West
Each fall, bird watchers from across Alabama visit these patches of jewelweed to witness the spectacle of hundreds of hummingbirds on their southward migration. As an added bonus, these large concentrations of hummingbirds sometimes attract western hummingbird species that have strayed from their usual migration route, particularly in the winter. Species to look for in the fall include Rufous, Black-chinned, Calliope, and Anna’s, among the Ruby-throated.
Rock Spring

Rock Spring Nature Trail offers you an opportunity to explore a small natural spring as it bubbles forth from the ground. Small fish dart about a deep pool created as the stream wandered through rich bottomland soil and limestone rock. Vegetation and trees change as you move through an abandoned field past the stream onto a rocky hillside.

After completing the 20-minute walk you may decide to pull off your shoes and dangle your feet in the swift cool waters.


I traveled to the Tennessee River and the Natchez Trace Bridge Mile Marker 328.7 where I took pictures of the marker:
Driven Up the Waters
Natchez Trace Parkway (near Natchez Trace Bridge Lauderdale side) 328.7
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior

Driven Up the Waters
The Trail of Tears led groups of Cherokee up the Tennessee River here. The Cherokee is one of the southeastern tribes who was relocated to Oklahoma due to the US Indian removal policy in the 1830s. 

During removal, most Cherokee went by land, but thousands of others traveled aboard barges and steamboats. Diseases, bred in cramped unsanitary conditions, raised the misery of those already reeling from the loss of their homes, homeland, and most possessions.

After learning of shipboard hardships, Cherokee leaders organized future removals themselves, primarily over land.


I rode across the bridge, men were working along the bridge. There were red lights to stop traffic, for it was only one lane working.

I took pictures of markers on the Colbert County side. There are new markers celebrating Alabama's 200 years of statehood.

Safe Crossings 
In the early 1800s, ferries like the one George Colbert ran near here on the Tennessee River linked segments of the Natchez Trace. Ferries carried people across the river for a fee. Post riders, Kaintucks, military troops, casual travelers, slave traders, and enslaved people took the ferries.

The Chickasaw had the title to the land in this region, and Chickasaw leaders like George Colbert understood the value of safe river crossings. In 1801, in one of their first treaties with the US, the Chickasaw allowed the US to develop the Natchez Trace into a road. The Chickasaw retained the right to operate a ferry across the Tennessee River.

US General Andrew Jackson and his veterans of the Battle of New Orleans marched homeward after the War of 1812. George Colbert's ferry carried them across the Tennessee River here. Although the river was not as wide and deep then, ferries made crossing safer and easier. 
Another Safe Crossing was located at Bird Site #12
Trace Travelers
Natchez Trace Parkway (near Natchez Trace Bridge Colbert side)
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior

Trace Travelers (Restroom area Colbert Side)

Frontier America once walked along the Natchez Trace.
The Chickasaw and Choctaw used the Trace for transportation and trade. After 1801, with tribal permission, post riders who rode the Trace connected isolated settlements in Mississippi and beyond.
Boatmen or farmers, known as Kaintucks, floated their products down the Ohio and  Mississippi rivers to market in Natchez, Mississippi. Then they sold their flatboats as lumber and walked home along the Trace. On foot, the 500-mile trip took about 35 days. By 1810 occasional travel had turned into the human flood; up to 10,000 Kaintucks passed along the well-trodden path each year.

Chickasaws moving south pass Kaintucks on the northbound leg of their journey home.

During the War of 1812, the Trace became a road for American armies marching to and from battle. 
Steamboats-powerful enough to sail up the Mississippi Riverstemmed the tide of Trace use.
Wet, Wild, and Wonderful Bird Site 12
Alabama’s Winter Waterfowl
The Tennessee River Valley is the winter home for thousands of waterfowl. These birds migrate from across the northern US and Canada down through the center of the continent to the Tennessee River.

Careful management practices have created more wetland areas. Regular planting of food crops such as millets, oats, and wheat has increased food sources for these winter visitors helping to bring their numbers to record highs. While everyone can enjoy the benefit of more waterfowl, much of this work has been done through the support of waterfowl hunters paying license fees, stamps, and excise taxes on equipment.

Ducks and geese are a very diverse group of birds. Over thirty species are found in Alabama and the Tennessee River Valley. Look for the difference in their size, plumage, feeding, and flight characteristics to see how many species you can identify. Often rafting with other ducks, the dark gray American Coot is not a duck at all but is a member of the rail family.

Geese
Geese tend to stand out from the pack because of their large size and long neck. The most familiar goose in the Tennessee Valley is the Canada goose with its dark head and white cheek. Many Canadian geese, released as juveniles in the state, now live year-round in the area.

Mergansers
Mergansers are also known as “Sawbills” because of the tooth-like serrations of their long thin bills. These birds are made to chase and catch fish underwater. Hooded Mergansers and Red-breasted Mergansers are often seen in large groups and can be joined by small numbers of Common Mergansers.

Dabbling Ducks
Dabbling Ducks are our best-known ducks. Dabbling Ducks have rounded, often flat bills used for filtering seeds, aquatic plants, and other organic materials from fine mid just below the water’s surface. Dabbling Ducks to look of r include Northern Shovelers, which have a pronounced shovel-shaped bill and can be seen actively filtering water through their bill as they swim. Other dabblers are Mallard, Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and American Widgeon. 

Diving Ducks
Diving Ducks prefer to stay in deeper water where they dive for food, Although they use a different technique, diving ducks also hunt for seeds, aquatic plants, and some aquatic insects. Diving ducks can usually be seen in mixed-species flocks including Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Canvasback, and Redheads. While divers run across the surface to take flight, dabblers leap from the water’s surface.
Colbert Stand
George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819. His stand or inn offered travelers a warm meal and shelter during their journey on the Old Trace. Colbert looked after his own well-being and once charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his Tennessee army across the river.


This site of his stand is a short 50 yards up this path. An additional 20-minute stroll will take you along the Old Trace to the bluff overlook station and back.


Chickasaw Hospitality 
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior
Natchez Trace Parkway
George Colbert's stand sat atop the ridge before you.
As one of many inns that dotted the Trace between 
Nashville and Natchez, it provided travelers with food and lodging.

With a Scottish father and Chickasaw mother, George 
Colbert used his bilingual abilities and knowledge of both
cultures to build a network of enterprises. As a Chickasaw,
he gained the right, by treaty, to operate a ferry across the 
Tennessee River, 

One traveler, Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara, described 
the stand that Colbert built near his ferry as "a country
place." Unlike other frontier buildings, it had an
"abundance of glass in windows and doors."

I find all the Indians on the road, particularly
the Colbert family is very accommodating to
us, we shall be tolerably well supplied in passing
through the [Chickasaw] nation..."

Colonel John Coffee
War of 1812
As the end of the day nears, post 
riders and travelers on the Old Trace
gather at Colbert's stand.
Chickasaw Planter
Natchez Trace Parkway (near Natchez Trace Bridge Colbert side)
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior
A Chickasaw Planter
During the early 1800s, a slave-owning planter class including George Colbert’s family emerged among the Chickasaw.

George’s success stemmed from a variety of endeavors. He fought with the Americans against the Shawnee and Creeks, traveled to Washington, DC, as a tribal emissary, and steadfastly protected  Chickasaw rights during treaty councils.

In addition to a ferry and an inn that Colbert operated nearby, he grew cotton and raised cattle. His large plantation depended on the labor of 150 enslaved African Americans.’

After removal to “Indian Territory” in present-day Oklahoma, Colbert established another large farm. Already past his 80th birthday, he died in 1839.

“Major Colbert, who ranks high in the government of his nation…has labored at the plow and hoe during the last season, and his example has stimulated others.”

Benjamin Hawkins, 1801
US Agent for Indian Affairs

Though run down by the time this photo was taken, Colbert’s Stand was once an important landmark on the Natchez Trace. Until forced removal, Colbert and his family lived in a more substantial house near present-day Tupelo.

Bridging Cultures
Natchez Trace Parkway (near Natchez Trace Bridge Colbert side)
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior

Bridging Cultures
Here, near the bubbling waters of Buzzard Roost Spring, Levi Colbert (Itawamba Minko, “Bench Chief”) built one of the many inns-called stands along the Natchez Trace.

But it was Colbert’s negotiating and language skills that sustained him as a tribal leader. Bilingual, with a Scottish father and Chickasaw mother, he took advantage of opportunities in both cultures.

Across several decades, Colbert sat among the Chickasaw during treaty talks. Using his knowledge of both white and Chickasaw society, he protected both the Chickasaw homeland and his own interests.

A dogged negotiator, at the time of his death in 1834, Colbert was trying to amend an 1832 treaty to gain better terms for the Chickasaw people.

A 2012 inductee into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame, Levi Colbert earned a reputation as a skilled negotiator.
Something to Chew On 
Natchez Trace Parkway (near Natchez Trace Bridge Colbert side)
National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior
Something to Chew on 
Inns, or stands, provided occasional shelter for travelers along the Natchez Trace. These stands offered flood to eat and food for thought: local news, information, and ideas. The ever-changing mix of diverse populations - whites, American Indians, and African Americans - interacted at stands regularly.

Already a Chickasaw leader and successful businessman, Levi Colbert enhanced his influence with a stand that he owned and operated here at Buzzard Roost Spring. Trace travelers no doubt talked about Levi’s stand. It was nicer than most and offered respite from the miles of footsteps that defined a Trace journey.
I came back thru Cherokee, and stopped at Spring Park Tuscumbia, stopping to take a picture of 
U. S. Army M60A3 Main Battle Tank
Obtained from Ft. Rucker, AL by American Legion Post No. 31
April 28, 1999
*Weapons: 105 mm rifled cannon. 7.62 mm and .50 caliber machine guns.
*Engine: 750 hp. 12-cylinder air-cooled diesel.
*Crew-4 men: Weight-107.900 lb.: Speed-30 mph: Range-300 miles
*Entered service in 1960 and used by 22 countries

Ended the day by meeting the Tidwell family at 6PM at Legends for a birthday dinner, where I enjoyed 6 boneless wings and a hot roll. 








Tuesday, May 10, 2016

2010 April 7, Wednesday, A day trip to Tulepo MS


Hubby and I traveled south along Natchez Trace stopping along the way to take pictures of markers. Bear Creek Mound, Pharr Mounds, Donivan Slough, Old Trace & Twenty Mile Bottom.

We arrived in Tupelo MS the birth home of Elvis Presley. We walked around the home and looked inside, we walked along the Walk of Life printed on the granite marker laid around the birth home. We saw the statue of Elvis at age 13. We saw Elvis Presley and the Blues marker telling about his influence on Blues music. We walked into the church where Elvis and his family attended. We visited Elvis's chapel "a place of meditation". We walked along the eight-foot "Story Wall", about Elvis's life told by friends of the family. We stopped to watch the fountain with thirteen upper spouts representing his life in Tupelo. We visited the gift shop. 
Our last stop was Memphis Bound where we saw a replica of the 1939 green Plymouth that Elvis drove to Memphis TN.


We rode downtown Lee County, Tupelo stopping to take pictures. We stopped at the Convention Center we saw the Shake Rag Blues Marker, telling about Elvis's influence on Blues Music. Inside on display were pictures of Elvis and Elvis White Chain Jump Suit. 
We saw the Lyric Theater where the family may have gone to see a movie. Our last stop in Tupelo was the Tupelo National Battlefield. 
Bear Creek Mound
Pharr Mounds
Pharr Mounds
Donivan Slough 
Old Trace 
Twenty Mile Bottom
Elvis Presley's birth home built in 1934
Elvis Presley's birth home 
Statue of Elvis Presley as a boy
Elvis Presley boyhood church 
Elvis Presley Museum 
1939 Plymouth
Shake Rag Blues Marker 
Shake Rag Blues Marker 
Colorful guitar with Elvis' face
Convention Center display of Elvis Presley and Marty Stewart
Fair Park and City Hall
Lyric Theater "All Shook Up" 


Tupelo National Battlefield
Battle of Tupelo and The Western Campaign 1864
We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel
Tupelo National Battlefield 
We took a different route home. We stopped in Red Bay Alabama where I took a few pictures of a mural on the side of a store building, some war memorials 
Mural in Red Bay
Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia 
We ended our trip by stopping at the Music Hall of Fame to take a picture of the Blues Marker.

The Blues Trail Mississippi to Alabama 
The Blues Trail Mississippi to Alabama 

It had been a full day driving south on Natchez Trace stopping to see several sights. A stop at Elvis Presley's birth home site. We made a stop at the Lee County-Tupelo Convention Centre.
We visited the Tupelo National Battlefield. We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel. We stopped in Red Bay. Our last stop was at the Music Hall of Fame where the Alabama to Mississippi Blues Marker was located.

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