Strange Tales of the Natchez Trace (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

[Music] this is the modern day natchez trace parkway established as a unit of the national park service in 1938. the parkway is a 444 mile scenic highway starting outside of nashville tennessee and running through the corner of northwest alabama and down through mississippi to the mississippi river at natchez the modern day trace stays as close as possible to the old historic trail of the natchez trace the trace began as indian and animal footpaths leading to hunting grounds and tribal war paths the three major tribes along the trace was the chickasaw in the north mississippi and middle tennessee areas consisting of approximately 5 000 tribal members next was the largest the chantal tribe or nation with an estimated 20 000 members covering the central part of mississippi the smallest was the natchez located in the southeastern part of what is now mississippi with 4 500 members one of the first white men to cross the trace was spanish explorer hernando de sota in 1540 somewhere close to the trace mile marker 243.3 at first desoto and his men were welcomed by the chickasaw and even spent the winter with the tribe not far from here however when the soda tried to capture members of the tribe and make slaves of them the chickasaw went on the warpath killing some of the conquistadors and would have killed them all but allowed them to escape desoto continued west and believed reached the mississippi river somewhere south of present-day memphis tennessee on may the 8th 1541. they will cross the river and spend the next year exploring arkansas and surrounding area desoto will return to the mississippi river sick and with a fever it's believed that hernando de soto passed away on the 21st of may 1542 and his men buried him in the river that he had discovered in 1716 the french established a settlement in the lower mississippi valley now the city of natchez after the french lost the french and indian war they ceded natchez and surrounding area to great britain then the united states required natchez and territory from great britain after the war of 1812. sometime during the middle half of the 1700s frontier farmers and boatmen and anybody that had goods to sell would build and float flat boats loaded with goods down the tennessee ohio and mississippi rivers to natchez and new orleans to sell their wares now these people were known as kentucks regardless of where they were from this is early natchez and as it looks today once they reached their destination and sold their goods their flat boats were dismantled and lumber sold as if there was no motorized way to travel back up the river the kentucks with money in their pockets and a desire to reach home began walking the natchez trace that at that time was nothing but a simple path which was an arduous walk through indian territory wild animals thieves and even murderers the trip took anywhere from three to four weeks walking from natchez to nashville the first recorded american serial killer roamed the natchez trace two cousins by the name of magi and wiley harp known as the harp brothers who were actually cousins big harp and little heart they robbed and killed travelers along the trace it's believed that as many as 40 men women and children were brutally killed by the pair magi or big harp was later captured in kentucky and killed little harp or wiley escaped and joined another gang of killers the samuel mason gang with the samuel mason gang little harp got even more vicious the kentucks had learned to travel in groups for their own protection but the robbers became so bold as to join the kentucks and when it was safe would kill and rob the entire group it got so bad that the mississippi territory of governor william c claiborne offered a two thousand dollar reward for the head of samuel mason and sent the volunteering militia to capture him even though little harp was a part of the samuel mason gang he plotted with a conspirator to kill mason and collect the reward using the disguise they took the head of samuel mason to the authorities to collect the two thousand dollars however someone recognized little harp through his disguise and he was caught and hanged they placed his head on a stake beside the natchez trace as a warning to other would-be criminals in 1801 thomas jefferson became the third president of the united states he was elected twice until 1809. he began making agreements with the indian nations along the trace in order to keep the us viable in the lower mississippi territory the chickasaw nation agreed to allow the u.s to widen the trace for horse travel and president jefferson ordered general james wilkins to widen the trace for post riders at mile post 249.6 the government established with indian permission a postal transfer location where mailbags would be changed along with horses it was a five-day ride from nashville and a seven more days on to natchez in 1803 the u.s government under thomas jefferson purchased from france huge amounts of land west of the mississippi river called the louisiana purchase he quickly sent troops down the trace to secure his purchase in 1806 president jefferson ordered the military to widen a trace so wagons could travel the road agreements was reached with the chickasaw that there'd be stands or houses built along the trace so that travelers would have a place to rest from their weary journey however the agreement was that only chickasaw or indians could own these stands at mile post 400.2 at the northern part of the trace a stand owned by a chickasaw man became known as the shibas stand now he was married to a witted white woman by the name of cranfield unable to speak english very well when travelers would ask him questions he would simply point to his wife and say she boss traveling south on the trace we come to mile post 385.9 the gravesite of explorer meriwether lewis of the lewis and clark expedition the death of meriwether lewis is still a mystery as to was it a suicide or murder in 1801 when thomas jefferson was elected president he brought a family friend captain mayor weather lewis to washington as his private secretary jefferson sent captain lewis and clark on a two and a half year journey to explore the newly acquired northwest territory as a reward for his achievements lewis was made governor of the northern part of the northwest territory headquartered in saint louis in 1809 governor lewis was plainly having mental problems his st louis staff said that he would make good decisions sometimes and then would do foolish things he was running up bills that the new president madison refused to pay he began drinking heavy and sometimes spoke irrational it's believed that while on his expedition he might have caught some type of disease from the indian tribes however it's more likely from malaria and the mercury pills that were dispensed by captain lewis for numerous medical reasons of course we now know that mercury causes poisoning of the brain governor lewis left saint louis with a servant and a few men with intentions of going to new orleans and around florida up the east coast to washington in order to answer charges of misuse of funds however when the group reached fort picarin that's now memphis tennessee governor lewis's men told the fort commander captain russell that the governor had tried to commit suicide on his way down the river he had also penned his last will and testament leaving everything to his mother before making the attempt on his life captain russell who was also a friend of the governor ordered him to stay under his carrot fort pickering for two weeks before his mind had cleared enough to travel captain russell then ordered the newly appointed indian agent james neely to escort the governor and his servant through indian territory instead of continuing down the river for the fear that war would break out with the british and that they might confiscate his confidential papers at new orleans the governor's party followed indian trails through the wilderness from fort pickering down to the chickasaw indian agency located at mile post 241.4 on the natchez trace some 20 miles south of present day tupelo mississippi the governor was sick at the time they arrived and they waited three days before governor lewis was able to leave the agency indian agent james neely with a servant and governor lewis with a freed servant along with pack muse headed up the trace it will be several miles before the party reaches buzzard roof springs at mile post 320.3 this stand or end was run by levi cobert chief of the chickasaw travelers would stop to rest and drink from the underground springs if they had money they could sleep inside by the fire or on the porch if not they could sleep on the ground close to the house and feel safe chief carbert will pass away in 1834 while trying to negotiate better terms for the chickasaws buzzard roost inn was sitting on this hill and this is the way it looked now this is the spring coming out of the side of the mountain that caused travelers to stop rest and drink from the spring after leaving buzzard roof springs the next stop was george cobbert's stand brother of levi covered george's stand was on the banks of the tennessee river where cobart had a ferry and charged travelers to cross the river this gives a picture back in time of what it was like when mayor weather lewis came up the trace and stopped at cobert's ferry this is the actual stand years later after it become run down and this is where the house was actually located after crossing the river and traveling some 40 miles north the governor's party stopped to make camp that night a thunderstorm occurred and the next morning the pack muse had broke loose agent neely knew that the governor was sick and needed rest so he told lewis to take the horse and go on up the trace until he reached grinder's stand and wait for him there the two servants could walk behind the governor and neely would hunt the pack muse and come on later now this is a replica of grinder's stand built by the park service on october the 10th 1809 after sunset if you were standing here you would see governor lewis riding his horse and reaching grinder's stand now mrs grinder and her children were the only ones at home she stated that her husband was on a hunting trip however it was more likely that he was attending a whiskey still to sell whiskey to the indians which was against the law she said that governor lewis took the saddle off his horse and asked if she was alone she said the way he was acting made her uneasy she asked him if he was traveling by himself she said she felt better when he said no there's two servants walking behind me misera's grinder fixed supper and said that the governor would be calm one moment and speak about what a wonderful meal she had cooked and then come up to her quickly turn around and walk off talking to himself she said she was much relieved when the servants arrived she fixed the bed for governor lewis and the servants went to the nearby barn to sleep the actual house was located where this sand now stands a few feet from the replica she usually slept in the house but still feeling uneasy she and her kids locked themselves in the kitchen off from the house to sleep around midnight she could hear governor lewis talking to himself and pacing back and forth she then heard a shot and a little after another and in a little while she heard the governor at her door asking for help she was too scared to open the door she stated she heard him rattling the water bucket and then crawling back to his room the next morning she sent the kids to the barn to get the servants when they arrived they said that governor lewis was still alive he had two bullet wounds and had lost much blood they said that he said he would give them all the money he had if they would finish him off they refused but within two hours the governor was dead when agent neely arrived later that day he ordered the governor's body to be buried not far from grinder's stand where the monument is now located governor mayor weather lewis was 35 years old for a more complete story of mayor weather lewis's death see my video documentary entitled what happened to mayor weather lewis now president james madison had been elected president in 1809 and three years later 1812 the united states was at war with great britain the same year the war of 1812 started a frenchman by the name of lewis lafleur married a chantal woman and started a trading post on the trace at mile post 108.7 it became known as french's camp because the floor was a frenchman the original trading post was somewhere in this area lefleur and his chateau wife had a son by the name of greenwood lafleur who became a choctaw chief and later a mississippi state senator the city of greenwood and the county of lafleur was named from him now this is a statement from reverend john johnson in 1812 describing his trip up the trace i have this day swam my horse five times bridged one creek forted several others beside the swamp we had to wade through at night we had a shower of rain took up my usual lodging on the ground in company of several indians in 1814 general andrew jackson for the second time marched his tennessee volunteer calvary down the trace to defend the gulf coast region from the british at mile post 327.3 chickasaw george cobbert operated a stand and ferry across the tennessee river now this is george cobbert making a deal with general jackson to ferry his men across it's been said that cobbert charged jackson 75 000 to bring his men and equipment across the river but the truth is the chickasaw helped feed jackson's army on their way to new orleans and back the chickasaw including george cobb fought with general jackson in the creek war and in the war of 1812. on january 8 1815 general jackson won the battle of new orleans making him a national hero we've just left natchez and we're headed up the natchez trace now this shows what a beautiful drive it actually is however when the victors of the battle of new orleans started home traveling back up the trace they faced knee-deep mud dying from heat and occasional rattlesnakes drenching rain and sleeping on wet ground deer is plentiful along the trace as it must have been during the 1800s all animals along the trace is protected by federal law now no doubt that general jackson's military stopped here located at mile post 10.3 was built in 1780 and is the only existing stand still on the natchez trace men would stop and rest and the end served as hospitals for the sick and injured anyone that died on the trace was simply buried on the side of the road during the early 1800s another outlaw that traveled to trace looking for victims was joseph thompson hare along with two companions joseph hare would paint their faces like indians using berry juice and robbing travelers along the trace it has been said that harry buried his unfaithful mistress along the trace while she was still alive once when hare was being chased up the trace by the law he had a vision of a white horse blocking his trail he then stopped at a stand for the night causing himself to be caught and placed in the pen for five years when he got out he soon started robbing again and was finally hung in 18 on december 10 1817 mississippi became the 20th state to join the union on october the 18th 1820 andrew jackson was sent by president james monroe as commissioner representing the united states to negotiate a treaty with the choctaw trying to get them to give up one-third of their traditional lands for territory in arkansas the meeting took place here at doke's stand mile post 128.4 the chateau leader push mataha told jackson that he knew the land in arkansas and that the grass was short there were few beaver and the honey and fruit are very sparse jackson in a tempered rage threatened the chateau chief if you refuse the chateau nation will be destroyed the chief had no choice but to sign the treaty now we're standing on the chateau side of their boundary ten years later after the signing of this agreement when andrew jackson becomes the seventh president of united states in 1829 he will initiate the indian removal act removing the same choctaw and chickasaw that fought for him in the greek wars and in the battle of new orleans removing all chickasaw and most of the chateau from their ancient homelands at mile post 251.1 was the capital of the chickasaw nation during the 1820s this was an indian village called pontotoc it served as capital of the chickasaw nation tribal laws and policies were established here each summer thousands of tribal members would gather here to receive their annual payment for land sold to the federal government after the treaty of 1832 the last of the chickasaw lands was surrendered the council house disappeared with only the name pontotoc remains as a mississippi town and county with the name traveling west with the chickasaw into oklahoma as a county and village by this time traffic on the trace was slowing and steamboats were being utilized and kentucks could make the trip from natchez to ohio kentucky and tennessee in 15 days this is the north side of the tennessee river in 1830s across from cobert ferry if you'd been here you would have seen cherokee tribal members in flat boats on their way west to oklahoma ordered by president jackson it'll be 18 and 63 before the u.s government will use the natchez trace again when general grant marched troops up to trace to the city of jackson during the civil war at mile post 269.4 13 unknown confederate soldiers are buried next to the old trace no one knows under what circumstances these soldiers were here we only know that they must have traveled the trace speculation has it that they might have been wounded soldiers from the battle of shiloh some think that they might have been deserters from shiloh and executed i choose to believe that they died from their wounds on the retreat from shiloh and time was taken to bury them in a hurry the natchez trace parkway is a step back in time for almost 6 million visitors per year [Music] you

Channel: Jerry Skinner

Views: 59,038

Rating: 4.961102 out of 5

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Id: WnUQl2sDV_o

Length: 26min 35sec (1595 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 22 2021