Alabama Ironworks

 

Our final stop was at Brierfield Ironworks State Park.  It’s a campground but has the relics of a furnace that operated beginning in 1862. During the civil war it made iron used for weapons like cannons but was wrecked in March 1865.  After massive repairs, it ran again in the 1880’s but closed in 1894.  In the meantime, it looks pretty cool!

It's been an interesting vacation.  We had no access to internet the whole time, no news, and very spotty cellphone service. It's nice being cut-off for awhile.
 

 

Russell Cave

 

This isn’t a mound or a ceremonial spot, just a place to live.  Indians for 9,000 years stopped at Russell Cave in Alabama.  We've been slowly learning more about the Native American history. Here's a summary of the eras and cultures:

40,000 - 8,000 BCE - Paleo-Indians - Big Game Hunters - These are the people that first inhabited the continent and moved without a permanent home and had basic stone tools.

8,000 - 1,000 BCE - Archaic People - Hunters and Gatherers - Minor mound building. Basket making began during this time. Weapons included spears, atlatl, and darts.

1,000 BCE - 800 CE - Woodland - Early Agriculture, Pottery, and Mound Building - Bows and arrows were developed during this time though spears and blowguns were still used.

800 - 1500 CE - Mississippian - True Agriculture and Mound Building - Maize or corn was a major crop.  Most of the mounds we saw on the trace were built during this time.
 

1500 AD on - Historic Tribes (Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez)

This cave was used by all these groups and time periods.  From a sign:

 "Archeologists still consider the cave to contain one of the most complete archeological records of prehistoric cultures discovered in North America.”  They’ve done excavations and have removed 2 TONS of archeological finds in this cave.  The museum has both original artifacts and some reproductions.

 

The place is beautiful!  There is water in part of the cave and set in woods when hunting would be possible.  The cave passages extend several miles, but you can just go into the front now.  That’s fine!

 

 

Camping near Ceremonial Grounds

We stayed overnight at Old Stone Fort State Archeological Park.  The campground is nothing special (though having water and electricity was nice).  The cool part is the area was used by Native Americans for ceremonies (or maybe just for sporting events or weddings or for trading cards, no one really knows!) from 0 to 500 CE.  Old Stone Fort was built and used during the Woodland period. Interestingly, it is a part of the Hopewell culture that built the mounds in Newark Ohio (http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/10/ohio-indian-mounds.html)
 

A river splits into two right at this point and drops over some rather spectacular waterfalls on both sides of the ceremonial area. Some of these waterfalls are very loud and powerful. Several mills were located here over the years to use the power of the water including paper mills, a distillery, cotton gin, saw mill, rope mill and a grist mill.

 

It isn't really a fort, just short walls (3-4’ high) around a 50 acre field.

 

 

At one point on the path we saw this snake all curled up ready to strike.  I definitely hesitated before stepping in front of this to continue on our way.

 

 

The Parthenon in Europe and Nashville

When John was in the Navy a few years ago (right after he graduated from high school), he was able to visit the Parthenon (no pictures).  When I was in London, I saw the Elgin Marbles  (the friezes are pictured) from the Parthenon that are displayed in the British Museum. 

By the way, the Parthenon was built in 438 BCE before all these mounds we've been seeing.

In Nashville (known as the Athens of the South) we were able to see the only full-size replica of the Parthenon with a best-guess of the original stonework.  It was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. It was originally built with temporary materials but was rebuilt with more permanent materials to reopen in 1931.  It’s not marble, just concrete column, but it does give you a feel for the size of the Parthenon.  I’ve seen pictures of the Parthenon, but I didn’t really understand how tall the columns were.

If you’ve seen the movie Percy Jackson, you know there is a statue of Athena (Goddess of Wisdom) inside.  Turns out the movie was filmed outside the building, but a set was used inside.  So, we didn’t find the jewel to return from Hades like in the film.  But we did see a carving of Medusa on the shield.

 

 

Enjoyed the sculptures too.

 

Elvis in Tupelo

Tupelo Mississippi is right off the trace.  Elvis Presley was born here.  I guess I rate celebrities by how much I’d pay to see something of theirs.  Elvis’s birthplace is $15 per person.  I don’t like him that much.  But I did get to touch his hand or at least the statue of Elvis in the city park. 

Johnnie's Bar-B-Q Drive In is a burger joint where Elvis used to eat.

Tupelo Hardware is where Elvis bought his first guitar.

 

By the way, they were doing a lot of work in the park getting ready for Tupelo’s Elvis Festival in a few days.  Did I mention Elvis is big in Tupelo?

Cemeteries on the Trace

I still haven’t figured out why, but I think cemeteries are fascinating.  This is the cemetery beside the church in Rocky Springs.

This is the family cemetery of Cowles Mead.  He started as an inn owner but was also governor of the Mississippi Territory.  One thing he is famous for is ordering the arrest of former Vice President Aaron Burr for treason though Burr was acquitted.

This is from an early settler cemetery. The stones are all new and flat in the ground.

 

 

This one is very weird.  There are 13 unknown Confederate soldiers buried here.  Each one has flowers and Confederate flags by it.  That’s not the weird part.  Each one has rocks and coins on top the stone.  Why?  I know the Jewish faith will add stones to strengthen the memory, but I saw nothing to say these were Jewish Confederates.  And coins?  Was money recently added to take to the next world like in ancient burials?  Or to pay for the crossing of the River Styx to the Underground?  Is this supposed to be like a wishing well?  We saw pennies on Benjamin Franklin's grave, but I’ve never heard of putting change on anyone else's grave stone.

Since we saw this I looked this up on the internet. Back in Roman times, coins were left on the graves of the military.  This was changed to flowers years ago. In the U.S., apparently there has been a tradition since the Vietnam War to again put coins on the gravestones of soldiers. From http://kygl.com/tradition-of-coins-left-on-the-gravestone-of-a-soldier/  "As for meanings of different denominations of coins. A friend, or an acquaintance that visits may only leave a penny. A nickel would be left by someone that may have been through boot camp, or trained with them, while someone that served in another platoon in the same company may leave a dime. A quarter would be left by someone that served in the same outfit, or was with the soldier when they died."  I'm pretty sure no one who served with these soldiers were here. but we saw plenty of quarters.
 

 

This is the Stones River National Cemetery with over 6,000 Union soldiers.

 

 

 

History on the Trace

Rocky Springs was an old town right near some springs (surprising, eh?).  The town did well (population 2,616 in 1860) but eventually yellow fever, boll weevils, and land erosion took out the town.  All that is left now is the church (still used occasionally), a cemetery, and two safes.  Funny to see safes in the woods!

This is the equipment to make sorghum molasses.  The turnstile broke down the juice from the stalks while the oven cooked the juice into molasses.

This one is hilarious.  We saw in all the brochures that you should see Tupelo National Battlefield.  Turns out it’s a street corner with a flag, two cannons, and a monument with no parking lot.  Wow!

 

This is recent history but I was surprised.  This waterway with multiple locks was completed in 1985 between the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee that runs to Mobile and the Gulf of Mexico.  I thought canals were only used in the past and disappeared after trains starting running.  This barge had mulch on it but all types of commodities are shipped.  I know that trains are much more energy efficient than trucks.  I wonder if boats are even more efficient.

 

This is a swinging bridge built in 1939 at Tishomingo State Park.

I consider this one either outrageous or funny.  George Colbert (half-Scot and half-Chickasaw Chief) operated a ferry across the Tennessee River.  During the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson needed to cross here.  Colbert charged Jackson $75,000 to ferry the army across the river.  I’m sure it would have taken several crossings, but that equivalent to $1.4 million in today’s dollars!

Iron ore was mined in open pits along the trace in Tennessee.  It was hard to see anything here, but we did see some of the dirt and stone along the pit walls. Phosphate was mined in these shafts near the same area.  The phosphate was used for fertilizer.

 

Iron works were located along the Buffalo River.  This isn’t the trace, but a mill race to bring water to run the machinery.  The sides of the mill race had slag pieces left, but nothing is left of the furnace.

Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) died here in Tennessee.  We visited here before, but this time the park museum was open and there was more information.  It appears that he did commit suicide, but it is difficult to understand his reasoning.  Either he was upset about financial difficulties due to political problems with a new President, or he was ill without modern medical help and was essentially out-of-his mind at the time.  He was only 35 when he died.  The broken column signified his short life.  Yet, it is amazing how much he did in that short life.

Tobacco drying in the barn.  Nearby was the site of Sheboss Stand.  From the sign, “The widow Cranfield operated an inn here with her Indian second-husband who spoke little English. According to legend, when travelers approached with questions about accommodations, he would only point to his wife and say, “She boss”."

While not directly on the Natchez Trace, we visited Stones River National Battlefield.  The battle here resulted in over 24,000 casualties (dead or wounded).  That was approximately one-third of all the soldiers involved in the battle.

Nature on the Trace

There are multiple stops where you can hike a short trail.  We saw turtles, deer, turkey, and other animals that moved too fast to identify (or take pictures of them).

I liked the moss, Spanish moss, and whatever that is on these two sticks.  Oh, I got lost on one of my morning walks.  I took a turn early and it took a while before I realized I was on the wrong trail. Given that much of this whole area is without cell phone service, I was a bit worried but eventually found my way back.  Maybe I should concentrate on where I am versus looking at moss.

 

A hike though a water tupelo and cypress swamp.  Gorgeous looking (though the bugs were annoying).  I still love the look of the cypress knees sticking up in the water.

 

We saw this snake in a stream.  A family said it’s a water moccasin but John doesn’t agree.  Either way…cool!  I teased John about it (he doesn’t like snakes) but somehow I’m the one who had a nightmare about it.  It was 30’ long in my dream and when it moved toward me I ended up yelling and sitting up in bed to get away!

 

Raindrops in the tree after a hard rain.

 

We got a warning on John’s phone about flash floods.  These pictures were taken about 6 minutes apart.  We saw branches, logs, and even buckets traveling down this stream.  Normally it’s dry enough that people walk across it for a nature trail.  Today we only got this far on the trail!

 

 

Kids playing in the river.  There’s a tree rope swing here.  It’s great to see kids playing outside.

Fall Hollow - While most people were friendly and respectful of the trace (VERY little trash along the road), there were still some jerks.  At this spot someone had taken spray cans of orange paint and painted large areas of the rocks.  Why?  Also, we stopped at one of the campgrounds and found quite a bit of trash on the site.  I decided to be good and pick up the trash which filled maybe ¼ of the trash barrel.  Turns out someone had a party here.  Park maintenance had already cleaned up streamers, balloons, beer cans, and candy.  Not only did they have a kid’s party with candy and balloons, the “adults” were smoking and drinking.  Then they just left without cleaning up anything.  Like I said, jerks!