Marathon Pundit: My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: The Natchez Trace Part Three

Sunday, June 08, 2008

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: The Natchez Trace Part Three

During my drive from Tupelo to Natchez on the Natchez Trace Parkway three weeks ago, I endured two hours of heavy thunderstorms, so some of the best sites along the way went unphotographed. These include the only cypress swamp I encountered in Mississippi, the Ross Barnett Reservoir of the Pearl River, the recreated community of French Camp, and Jeff Busby Park.

Large trucks are banned on the Trace, but cyclists are welcomed. The hardier ones will ride north to Tennessee--because from Tupelo to the end of the road, the route is a noticeably downhill one. Remember I was in a car, so imagine how much more noticeable it is for bike riders--and their thighs--heading in the opposite direction.

Prior to the Civil War, much of the land surrounding the Trace was used to grow cotton--with of course the use, and of course abuse, of slave labor. Most of the countryside I saw during this part of my trip isn't farmed, poor soil management led to abandonment by farmers, and nature reclaimed the land, or it was converted into range land. I somehow avoided a pedology class in college, so it was not until I traveled on the Natchez Trace that I learned about loess--rich windblown soil formed by retreating glaciers. Much of Mississippi soil is loess, which is highly susceptible to erosion.

That's some Mississippi red loess on the right. The rest of the photos are typical scenes of the countryside of the central and southern portions of the Natchez Trace.