Natchez,MS

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

The other cemetery on the Mount Locust grounds is an old family cemetery. The gate was locked which was kinda a bummer. Turns out one of the members of the family that owned Mount Locust was a Confederate veteran. Glad I took alan's suggestion and stopped on the way back to Natchez. I sent him a text as I was leaving and thanked him.


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I'm glad you discovered Mount Locust.

That's a very serene place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.

For many years, the NPS Park Ranger assigned to Mt. Locust was a member of the Chamberlain family.
He actually grew up in the "stand" before it became part of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

How cool is that ?

During my years in Natchez, Ranger Chamberlain and I became friends. I was fortunate to learn quite a bit from him that 's not on the National Park Service brochure.

 

[bdtex]

I'm glad you discovered Mount Locust.

That's a very serene place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.

For many years, the NPS Park Ranger assigned to Mt. Locust was a member of the Chamberlain family.
He actually grew up in the "stand" before it became part of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

How cool is that ?

During my years in Natchez, Ranger Chamberlain and I became friends. I was fortunate to learn quit a bit from him that 's not on the National Park Service brochure.

That is way cool my friend. I really do wanna go back there again and take a leisurely walk/look around. It's beautiful out there and I was a bit rushed but it was still a good stop. The lady Ranger at the Welcome Center that day was very nice. I didn't have time to go back in and talk to her afterwards. I would've liked to do that.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

That is way cool my friend. I really do wanna go back there again and take a leisurely walk/look around. It's beautiful out there and I was a bit rushed but it was still a good stop. The lady Ranger at the Welcome Center that day was very nice. I didn't have time to go back in and talk to her afterwards. I would've liked to do that.

Thanks.

The next time you're in that area, be sure to visit Emerald Mound . . . only a few miles down the Natchez Trace from Mount Locust.

It's the second largest Native American mound in the USA.

The Natchez Indians alluded to being descendants of a long lost civilization from very far south.

Think Aztec.

There's still much debate about this claim within academic circles, but it does make one wonder.

The Natchez were very unique among the Southeast Woodland Tribes/Nations. For example, they had "Sun Kings" and their "mounds" . . . or at least Emerald Mound . . . is reminiscent of some of the pyramids found in Mexico and Central America.

Here's some neat drone shots of Emerald Mound.

 

[James N.]

The Indian village site at Natchez was very interesting too. The Natchez as a tribe were exterminated by the French following their massacre of French settlers at Fort Rosalie, located on the site of (I believe) Dunlieth or one of the other magnificent Mississippi River mansions in downtown Natchez. According to one of the most interesting (and unbelievably gross!) books I ever read, the Natchez practiced human sacrifice on a large scale, as well as ritual cannibalism, so their days were likely numbered anyway.

 

[RobertP]

The Indian village site at Natchez was very interesting too. The Natchez as a tribe were exterminated by the French following their massacre of French settlers at Fort Rosalie, located on the site of (I believe) Dunlieth or one of the other magnificent Mississippi River mansions in downtown Natchez. According to one of the most interesting (and unbelievably gross!) books I ever read, the Natchez practiced human sacrifice on a large scale, as well as ritual cannibalism, so their days were likely numbered anyway.

I always thought Dunlieth was the most beautiful house in the city. A couple of years ago it and the 50 acres around it could have been yours for $7 million!

 

[bdtex]

Postus interruptus...

The time of my next picture shows that I arrived at Natchez City Cemetery at 4:48pm,so I missed that 4-4:30 window I was shooting for. I had about an hour and 40 minutes before sunset so I got busy. I'd like to think that if I had gotten there at 4:00pm,it would've been a much more leisurely visit,but I know me. Maybe the next visit will be.

 

[bdtex]

I printed the FindAGrave "Famous Memorials" page for Natchez City Cemetery before I left and I had it with me. The little administrative office for the cemetery was closed by the time I got there but there was a little case on the wall next to the front door that had cemetery brochures with a map and I grabbed one of those and really got busy. Within sight and short walking distance from the office was the first place I went. Didn't need a map to find/see it.

 

[bdtex]

Way back on page 1 of this rambling thread it was suggested that I find "The Turning Angel" at the cemetery. Didn't need a map to find it either. I saw it the day before from Cemetery Road as I was heading to Natchez National Cemetery. As you can see there are coins all over the stones. Some people obviously don't know the symbolism of each coin.

 

[bdtex]

There is another Confederate burial section within the section where The Turning Angel is. Didn't need a map to find it either.

 

[bdtex]

Finding individual gravesites,even with a cemetery map,is a bit challenging at Natchez City Cemetery. Fortunately,many are also marked with a Southern Cross.

 

[bdtex]

Eventually,I started running out of daylight and sought out the high ground at Natchez City Cemetery to watch the sunset. The high ground is on the north side of the cemetery and is called Jewish Hill.

 

[bdtex]

As I've looked at the map of Natchez City Cemetery over the last couple of days,I've realized that I ran out of daylight before I could even look for several gravesites that I wanted to find. As a matter of fact,I've realized that I did not even go on the 5 southernmost sections of the cemetery. That's okay. The makings of another trip are/were already there. Fort Cobun was closed at Grand Gulf MP and other than the 2 cemeteries and the night-time walk to King's Tavern,I didn't see any of the other sights in Natchez.

 

[bdtex]

Natchez City Cemetery is literally minutes from The Clifton House. Made it back to The Clifton House in time to capture these images. Afterwards,I just sat down and relaxed for awhile and enjoyed the sights and sounds. It was a full day.

 

[bdtex]

Moving right along to Saturday,March 10th. Slept a little later that morning because I was pretty beat from the day before,but I still rolled out pretty early from Natchez. There was a good chance of rain on my route home that day but I had a coupla places I wanted to stop,weather permitting. The first was Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site in Pineville/Alexandria,Louisiana. I had stopped there on my way home from Vicksburg in February 2017,primarily to visit Fort Randolph,but it was closed due to nesting eagles. Visited Fort Buhlow and the Visitor Center instead. There is an elevated walkway around both forts.

https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisia...rts-randolph-buhlow-state-historic-site/index

 

[bdtex]

I figured what's the chances of Fort Randolph being closed again because of nesting eagles? Wrong! When I arrived,Ranger Holloway recognized me from last year and kindly advised me of the repeat closure of Fort Randolph upon my inquiry. I paid my $4 anyway and did what I could. Most of the walkway to Fort Randolph was blocked off. This is as far as I could go. Next time,I'm gonna call ahead before I go. I wanted to visit Fort Randolph in late winter while the vegetation is down.

 

[bdtex]

Ranger Holloway was kind enough to show me the approximate location of 2 river batteries below Forts Randolph and Buhlow. The Red River was way up that Saturday. The exact area where the river batteries were was underwater. The water level of the Red River in 1864 was way lower.

 

[bdtex]

Before you get to the Visitor Center is the Bailey's Dam Overlook. Pretty cool stop. I've seen remnant's of Bailey's Dam in 3 different museums so far.

 

[bdtex]

Did I mention that the Red River was way up?

 

[bdtex]

The last stop of my trip was Niblett's Bluff Park. That was the first stop on our Houston CWRT Texans On the Teche Tour in October last year,but when we arrived it was closed due to flood damage from Hurricane Harvey.

https://www.louisianatravel.com/la-lakes-beaches/nibletts-bluff-park

 

[bdtex]

It rained on me pretty good for part of the way. By the time I got there,the skies had cleared and it never rained again that day.