The Natchez Trace is one
of the oldest highways in the southeastern United States. Archaeological
evidence reveals prehistoric activity along the road, which later became
a trail between Chickasaw and Choctaw villages. The Trace served as
a postal route between Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee.
It attained greatest prominence during the era of river navigation by
flatboats and keelboats. Because the southern flow of the Mississippi
River was extremely strong it was cheaper and easier to sell the boats
for lumber at New Orleans and return home on foot.
From New Orleans to Natchez the Trace ran through fairly well settled
areas with relatively little danger; from Natchez to Nashville its path
was through sparsely settled, more dangerous areas. Most boatmen of
that period distrusted banks and carried their money in specie (gold
or silver coins), making them very attractive targets for robbers who
frequented the Trace in its early years. Various outlaw gangs, most
notably the Harps and the Murrell Clan, terrorized portions of the Trace
and added to the myth of violence which surrounded it.
Each item cited in the following
list is available in the McCain Library and Archives. The information
listed in brackets for each entry contains either a library book call
number or a reference to items located in Historical Manuscripts. All
materials are available for use in the Cleanth Brooks Reading Room,
(Room 305), McCain Library and Archives.
GUIDE BOOKS
Crutchfield, James Andrew.
The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History. Nashville: Rutledge Hill
Press, 1985. [MISS F 217 .N37 C78 1985]
Travel Guide to
the Natchez Trace Parkway Between Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville,
Tennessee. Nashville: Southern Resources Unlimited, 1984. [MISS
F 217 .N37 C67 1984]
Young, Harold and Black,
Patti Carr. The Natchez Trace. Jackson, Miss.: The University
Press of Mississippi, 1985. [MISS F 217 .N37 Y68 1985]
HISTORY
Coates, Robert O. The
Outlaw Years: The History of the Land Pirates of the Natchez Trace.
New York: Literary Guild, 1930. [MISS F 396 .C65 1930]
Daniels, Jonathan. The
Devil's Backbone: The Story of the Natchez Trace. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1962. [MISS F 341 .D24]
Dunn, Margaret C. Criminals
Along the Natchez Trace. Hattiesburg, Miss.: University of Southern
Mississippi, 1970. [MISS Thesis D9243c]
Flemming, Alice. Highways
into History. New York: St. Martin Press, 1971. [MISS E 179.5 F58]
Howard, H.R., comp. The
History of Virgil A. Stewart, and His Adventures in Capturing the Great
"Western Land Pirate" and His Gang. New York: Harper, 1836. [MISS
F 341 .H696 1976]
Jamison, Lena Mitchell.
"The Natchez Trace: A Federal Highway of the Old Southwest." Journal
of Mississippi History 1 (1939): 82-99.
Kane, Harnet Thomas.
Natchez on the Mississippi. New York: Morrow, 1947. [SPEC COLL
F 349 .N2 K3]
Phares, Ross. Reverend
Devil: A Biography of John A. Murrell. New Orleans: Pelican Publishing
Company, 1941. [MISS F 396 .P52 1941]
Phelps, Dawson A. "Stands
and Travel Accommodations on the Natchez Trace." Journal of Mississippi
History 11 (January 1949): 1-54.
Phelps, Dawson A. "Travel
on the Natchez Trace: A Study of Its Economic Aspects." Journal of
Mississippi History 15 (July 1953): 155-164.
Pruitte, Janye Conway. Migrations
of South Carolinians on the Natchez Trace. Fairfax, Virginia: 1949.
[GEN F 341 P95]
Rees, Gary L. The Birth
of a Legend: John A. Murrell's Connection to the 1835 Mississippi Insurrection
Hysteria. Hattiesburg, Miss.: The University of Southern Mississippi,
1982. [MISS Thesis R328b]
Rowland, Dunbar. Mississippi:
Comprising Sketches of Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons Arranged
in Cyclopedic Form. Atlanta: Southern Historical Publishing Co.,
1907. [MISS F 339 .R88 1916 Vol. 1&2]
Rowland, Eron Opha Gregory.
"Marking the Natchez Trace, an Historic Highway of the Lower South."
Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, 11 (1910):
345-361. [MISS F 336 .M75 Vol. 11 1910]
U.S. National Park Service.
Natchez Trace Parkway Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1941. [MISS F 341 .U56]
JUVENILE BOOKS
Payne, Josephine Balfour.
The Journey of Josiah Taltatters. New York: Junior Literary Guild,
and Ariel Books, 1953. An account of a journey on the Natchez Trace
where Reverend Taltatters acquires a pig, a chair, a dog, and a parrot
during his journeys. Appealing to children in the 3rd to 5th grades.
[MISS Juv PZ 7 .P295 Jo]
Pearson, William. Trouble
on the Trace: A Story of the Natchez Trace in the Year 1801. New
York: Ariel Books, 1954.A well-written story of a journey on the Natchez
Trace as seen through the eyes of a 13 year old boy. [MISS Juv PZ 7
.P438 Tr]
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Natchez Trace Research Collection
[SPEC COLL M249 Historical Manuscripts]
The following collections
reflect early settlement of the Natchez area:
Brandon (Gerard C.) Letter.
1829 [SPEC COLL M60 Historical Manuscripts]
McNutt (Alexander G.) Letters.
1838-1840 [SPEC COLL M67 Historical Manuscripts]
North (Ralph) Letter. 1883
[SPEC COLL M52 Historical Manuscripts]
MISSISSIPPIANA VERTICAL FILE
HEADINGS
Contained in the vertical
file under the following headings are a variety of newspaper articles,
brochures, and other ephemeral materials on the Natchez Trace:
Mississippi - History
Mississippiana
Mississippiana - Bibliography
Natchez Trace Parkway
Natchez Trace Parkway - Historic
Sites
Outlaws
"Weekender"
