Natchez Trace: Difference between revisions

[[Image:{{NatchezT}}]][[Image:{{NatchezTMap}}]]The '''Natchez Trace'''., or "Old Natchez Trace" was a 450 mile (725 km) long trail connecting what were originally American Indian settlements on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_River Cumberland River] (Nashville, Tennessee) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_River Tennessee River] ("Wawmanona" Indian site near Florence, Alabama) with settlements near the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River Mississippi River] (Natchez, Mississippi). In the 1790s the trace was extended from Nashville, Tennessee to Maysville, Kentucky where it connected with [[Zane's Trace|Zane's Trace]] which continued through Ohio to Wheeling, West Virginia.  

The "trace" was first created by animals like bison to reach salt licks in the Nashville area, and their grazing areas near the Mississippi River. American Indians, developed the trace further for trading mostly, and also as a warpath. An unknown Frenchman was the first European to write about traveling the full Natchez Trace in 1742.<ref name="null">Wikipedia contributors, "Natchez Trace," ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace (accessed 24 July 2010).</ref> But earlier Europeans such as Spanish explorer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer) Hernando de Soto] may have&nbsp;come across parts of the trace in 1540 while being guided by [[Choctaw Indians|Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw Indians|Chickasaw]] Indians. The trace followed a natural ridge and, at first, was only a narrow footpath or horse trail unsuitable for wagons because of trees.