Traveling from Marianna, FL to Las Cruces, NM, Part II: Natchez Trace, Natchez, MS and the Grand Ole River itself.
Marianna to Las Cruces. Part II Natchez Trace, Natchez, MS and the Grand Ole River Our next stop was to explore a bit of the Natchez Trace and Natchez, MS. First, a bit of a history lesson. The Natchez Trace is a travel corridor that has been used for hundreds of years, first by the indigenous peoples, later by traders, circuit rider preachers, militia and settlers between the area of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in Tennessee and Kentucky down to Natchez, New Orleans and the gulf. This was an important land route between the established country of the US to the newly acquired southern coastal areas of Mississippi and Louisiana. In the 1800s people in the north, (often referred to as Kaintucks) would make their way to the Mississippi River, load their trade goods on flatboats and float down to Natchez. Once in Natchez, they would sell their goods, even the lumber from dismantling their flatboats. Then they would turn around and hike back home along the Trac...