The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History [Paperback]

James Crutchfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2000

"An accurate and authentic account of the entire 10,000 years of... the Old Natchez Trace and the modern parkway." - John Mohlhenrich, former Chief Park Interpreter of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Illustrated and indexed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History celebrates the bicentennial of Tennessee as well as the completion of the northern end of the Trace into Nashville. The beauty, intrigue, history, and significance of the Natchez Trace are all portrayed in text and over 200 illustrations. The Trace was originally an important road for Choctaws, Chickasaws, and other Native Americans. With the development of Middle Tennessee in the late 1700s and the establishment of the Mississippi Territory in 1798, the Natchez Trace became a vital link between these outposts of civilization. Today its beauty and historical significance have been preserved in the Natchez Trace National Parkway. The Natchez Trace offers a glimpse of the wild frontier that surrounded passerby of long ago. The Natchez Trace takes the reader off the beaten path and into a fascinating world. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934395039
• ISBN-13: 978-0934395038
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,561,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pictorial History of a Scenic Parkway, August 17, 2003

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History (Paperback)

The Natchez Trace was once a 450 mile highway across a part of the US running from Nashville, Tenn to Natchez, Ms. Before 1820 it was known as the "Path to the Choctow Nation." The French included the Trace in their maps as early as 1733, and many thousands of travelers used it in its heyday from the 1780's to the 1810's.

In 1811 the Roosevelts "plied down the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburg to New Orleans" aboard another piece of Americana, the river boat. In the 1820's the Natchez Trace saw a last hurrah when Andrew Jackson's Military road cut the overland distance to New Orleans by over 200 miles. The Trace had become obselete.

In the 1930's the Natchez Trace Parkway was begun to allow travelers to follow the old Trace from end to end. The Parkway is almost complete now. There are a few miles near Natchez and Jackson where the Parkway has not been completed, but otherwise the Parkway and the Trace are now known as one and the same.

The Parkway is a scenic route. My wife and I traveled the Parkway and reveled in the gorgeous sites. Is there a better way to remember such sites than with a pictorial history? I think not.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to the Trace, February 16, 2000

By 

Jo Wilhelm (Johnson City TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History (Paperback)

We are quasi freqent travelers of The Natchez Trace and have always loved stopping to learn, as we drove this beautiful parkway. We have had several guides, but none come close to the scope of this book. From ancient peoples, up to recent developments along the Trace, this is an easy to read, yet comprehensive history. I highly recommend you take it along as you drive the Trace, I intend to do that very thing later this summer!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drive with history and perhaps a ghost or two, March 28, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History (Paperback)

A few years ago I made this trip along the Natchez Trace Parkway from end to end in an automobile, stopping at one restored stand and the official Tourist Visitor Center in Tupelo, where I bought "The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History" and picked up a copy of the fold-out of the "Official Map and Guide."

It is a backwards way of doing things--to buy the book then read about the place after you've been there, but if you don't know you're going to make the trip until you are there, kind of happenstance, then you cannot plan ahead. We found ourselves outside Nashville at the beginning of the Natchez Trace Parkway and said, Why not? Instead of the mad drive down an interstate, we set a leisurely pace down this scenic, national, historic parkway.

According to Congress, "This roadway, following the historic Trace for 450 miles, will ensure a continuously unfolding inspirational interpretation of an important transportation route and its related regional resources which opened the way to expansion of the United States into the Old Southwest" (7). The Trace and Parkway offer a larger variety of scenery than any other place in the country as it passes through three regions of topography: Highland Rim, Northeast Hills, and Tombigbee Prairie. It also links three riverways: Cumberland, Tennesse, and Mississippi Rivers.

"At least 100 species of trees, 215 species of birdlife, 57 species of mammals, and 89 species of reptiles and amphibians reside along today's Natchez Trace Parkway" (9). Buffalo probably were the first natural travelers along the Trace, making their way from south to the salt licks of the northern area. Indians, then explorers, then colonists making their way from one area to the other entrenched the Trace into a permanent trail. (Trace refers to the trail, Parkway is the national roadway.)

Early traveler stops, called stands, are described in documents as sometimes inhospitable. Intending to supplement their income, some farmers opened stands offering a bed, food, and shelter. These were found a day's travel apart. Some, however, were hovels with dirt floors, no walls, and a bearskin to sleep on. The restored stand actually offered a room with "family-style" dining--food piled on a table with a help-yourself service.

Today the map shows hiking trails, horse riding trails, picnic areas, historic areas to visit (Indian mounds, Old Trace exhibits), and nature trails. Sanitary stations and public campgrounds are also interspersed for public use. One historic site marks the place where Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and one-time governor of the Louisiana Territory, was shot.

The first statement in the Map and Guide is this: "This is the story of human beings on the move, of the age-old need to get from one place to another." Even today when hurry and hurry faster are the dominant mode of travel, there is a place designed to slow us and make us observe the beauty of nature and history as they combine.