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.
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| 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 deposits pollen 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. Only when the feathers catch the light at a certain angle can their intricate beauty 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.
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| 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:
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 through Cherokee and stopped at Spring Park, Tuscumbia, to take a picture of
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| 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.
