Hello to the Grand Strand Geocachers from Natchez, MS, one of the prettiest and most interesting cities we have visited on our travels so far. Click to view a Geocaching.com map of all of the caches where Tweety & Coach was!

We finished our stay in Natchez by doing a few NRV caches and doing a little more sightseeing.  We visited several houses and shops, such as the site where Fort Rosalie used to be which was established by the French in 1716. It became the nucleus of settlements from which the Mississippi Territory was founded. Near this marker stood the French tobacco warehouse that was a center of bloodshed during the Natchez Massacre in 1729. We also saw The Guest House B & B circa 1840, Biscuits and Blues Restaurant and Molasses Flats. Molasses Flats is part of the name of the Molasses Flats Antique and Gifts. The building was named in the late 1800’s, and the story goes that there was an apartment building at this location. At the turn of the century, the elderly lady who had lived there the longest said too many that “the Flats” were the sweetest place to live. When asked how sweet, she would say “sweet as molasses”. Thus the name Molasses Flats “stuck” to this site. To this day, it is still on the old record of deeds at Natchez City Hall. Gloucester Plantation, circa 1795, and Greenlea Plantation, circa 1795, were two of the lovely other plantations we also saw.  One other building we saw was The Commercial Bank Building built circa 1836.This structure is a National Historic Landmark and is a fine example of the Greek Revival style. There was also a Banker’s House attached to the rear which insured security and gave the structure and unusual and practical plan.

The next morning we packed up and headed up the Natchez Trace. For those of you not familiar with the Natchez Trace it is a 440-mile-long path extending from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN and linked the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. It was a traditional Native American trail and was later also used by early European explorers as both a trade and transit route in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Today, the trail has been commemorated by the 444-mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway, which follows the approximate path of the trace. The trail itself has a long and rich history, filled with brave explorers, dastardly outlaws and daring settlers. Parts of the original trail are still accessible.

Our first stop on the Trace was at Sunken Trace which preserved a portion of the deeply eroded or “sunken” Old Trace. Hardships of journeying on the Old Trace included heat, mosquitoes, poor food, hard beds (if any), disease, swollen rivers, and sucking swamps. As you walk this trail let your imagination carry you back to the early 1800’s when people walking 500 miles had to put up with this discomfort, and a broken leg or arm could spell death for the lone traveler. Next stop was at Grindstone Ford which marked the beginning of the wilderness of the Choctaw nation and the end of the old Natchez District. Nearby Fort Deposit was a supply depot for troops clearing the Trace in 1801-02, and troops were assembled here during the Burr conspiracy allegedly to separate the Western States from the Union. The site takes its name from a nearby water mill. Riverboat men on foot or horseback crossed here, northbound, after floating cargoes down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. Soldiers splashed across from the north to protect the Natchez District from British and Spanish threats. For post riders, Indians, bandits, and preachers Bayou Pierre was the line between civilization and wilderness. Also located at the site was an old graveyard with about 10 or 12 graves dating back to the 1820’s.

Next stop was at Rocky Springs was once a thriving rural community. First settled in the late 1790’s, the town grew from a watering place along the Natchez Trace, and took its name from the source of that water, The Rocky Spring. In 1860 a total of 2,616 people lived in this area covering about 25 square miles. The population of the town proper included 3 merchants, 4 physicians, 4 teachers, 3 clergy and 13 artisans, while the surrounding farming community included 54 planters, 28 overseers and over 2000 slaves who nurtured the crop that made the town possible…..cotton. Several businesses were established at different times, among them carpenters, wheelwrights, a well digger, cabinet makers, a cotton gin maker and blacksmiths. The Civil War, yellow fever, destructive crop insects, and poor land management brought an end to this once prosperous rural community. From the time this land was settled, few farmers practiced good soil conservation measures. After 1820, subsistence farming gave way to a plantation economy where even the hillsides were cleared and planted. A letter written in 1863 while the Civil War raged stated “My slaves, horses, and mules are carried off, my fences torn down and my crops destroyed. During the summer and fall of 1878, yellow fever struck the area. Pastoe J. W. Sandwell on November 18, 1878 wrote that there were 180 yellow fever cases and 43 deaths. Although Rocky Springs tried to recover after the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, in the early 1900’s the boll weevil struck, devastating the cotton crop. After this final disaster, the population declined rapidly and the last store in the area closed its doors during the 1930’s. Our last stop before we hit our campground was Lower Choctaw Boundary. There was a line of trees there that have been a boundary for 200 years and was established in 1765 and marked the eastern limits of the Old Natchez District. Since 1820 it has served as the boundary between Hinds and Clairborne Counties, Mississippi. Also located there was Red Bluff Stand where “John Gregg at the lower Choctaw Line respectfully informs the public, and travelers particularly, that he keeps constantly on hand a large and general supply of groceries, ground coffee ready to put up, Sugar Biscuit, Cheese Dried Beef, or Bacon, and every other article necessary for the accommodation of travelers going through the nation, on very reasonable terms. He is also, prepared to shoe horses on the shortest notice”. Established in 1802, this hostelry on the Indian boundary was for several years the last place a northbound traveler could get provisions.

We got to the Springridge RV Park and got set up and the next day we were off to do some caches in the Clinton, MS area. The first interesting cache we did was GCJF5K “P. O. W.”. It was the site of a German POW camp called Camp Clinton which along with 3 other POW camps and 15 branch camps in Mississippi held approximately 20,000 prisoners. From 1942 to 1946 more than 400,000 German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war (PWs) were interned in the United States. Of that number, approximately 20,000 were held in camps in Mississippi. Camp Clinton is particularly significant compared to other PW camps in the country. First, the camp’s prisoners provided the labor during the initial, and more tedious, phases of construction of the Mississippi River Basin Model. Their work, valued at several million dollars, allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with and complete their flood control project. In the decades after the Basin Model’s completion, data collected during tests helped to save billions of dollars in property damage. Second, a special compound constructed at Camp Clinton was where all but a few of the German Generals held in the United States were confined. Out of nearly forty generals in American captivity, thirty-five (and one admiral) were at one time or another at Camp Clinton.

Next cache we did was GCP7DJ “Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery”. The cemetery contained some grave sites dating back to the 1850’s. Did you know that back in 17th Century England, it was odd to find people organized for the purpose of giving aid to those in need and of pursuing projects for the benefit of all mankind. Those who belonged to such an organization were called “Odd Fellows”. Odd Fellows are also known as “The Three Link Fraternity” which stands for Friendship, Love and Truth. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded on the North American Continent in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 26, 1819 when Thomas Wildey and four members of the Order from England instituted Washington Lodge No. 1. This lodge received its charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in England. Odd Fellowship became the 1st national fraternity to include both men and women when it adopted the beautiful Rebekah Degree on September 20, 1851. This degree is based on the teachings found in the Holy Bible, and was written by the Honorable Schuyler Colfax who was Vice President of the United States during the period 1868-1873. Odd Fellows and Rebekahs were also the first fraternal organization to establish homes for our senior members and for orphaned children.

A few of the other more interesting caches in the area were GCMF3C “Healing Spring”. This cache was located at a “healing spring” in a back section of Clinton. Clinton was formed in 1823 and called Mt. Salus (Mountain of Health) and got its name from the recently completed home of the Governor which sat by a large flowing spring. The town was known for miles around for its many springs, thought to have healing qualities. As the town grew it changed its name to Clinton in 1837 after prominent New Yorker Dewitt Clinton. There still were springs in the area and this was one of them which still flows. GC19KGF “Cowles Mead Cemetery” a cache at the former home of acting Governor Cowles Mead. Mead came from the East seeking opportunity in the Mississippi Territory. He owned a tavern on the Old Trace near Natchez and held several political offices, including acting Gov. in 1806. During this time, he ordered the arrest of Aaron Burr for treason but the former Vice President was acquitted. Mead followed the growth of the state and moved to the Jackson area. He built his beautiful landscaped home “Greenwwood” on this site. Little remains today of his grand estate that burned after his death, during the Civil War, except the family cemetery.

Well that’s about it for this month from Clinton, MS, just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. Next month we will be visiting the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS, Battleground Park in Jackson, MS and a visit to the USS Cairo, a old Union warship.

Until next time- HAPPY CACHING from Tweety & Coach and we will see you all in about 2 weeks!
Tweety & Coach……………ftjak

Read more about ftjak’s adventures on their blog:
www.2lostsoulsotheroad.blogspot.com

Posted in Newsletter, On The Road w/Tweety & Coach | Comments (1)