June 6th Natchez Trace Parkway, Tennessee

Grave site of Meriwether Lewis, Natchez Trace Prkway

The first time I visited Tennessee in 2012 I made a point of driving a portion of the Blue Ridge Highway in Eastern Tennessee and North Carolina. I had heard of the highway so wanted to see and experience it. At one point I stopped and walked about a hundred yards on the Appalachia Trail – just so I could say I’d done it.

Before this trip I was not familiar with the Natchez Trace Parkway. My map showed Natchez Trace as a scenic highway, so I decided to take that route towards Nashville. As soon as I turned off Highway 64, I felt a sense of relaxation as the two-lane, gently-curving road wove through dense stands of mixed deciduous trees on either side of the road. There were practically no other cars driving this route.

View from the drivers seat of the Natchez Trace Parkway

As I proceeded it wasn’t long before I saw a sign to the Meriwether Lewis gravesite. I pulled off to first see a rustic log building and then a large oval of lawn, slightly mounded with an American flag at the near end and a stone monument at the far end. The memorial was flanked by two majestic oaks. Have I mentioned how grand the trees grow in this part of the country, where they have plenty of water and heat to encourage them? The deciduous tree forests are profoundly different from our coniferous forests in California – so different I feel there should be a two different words to describe the two forest types.

As I continued I found numerous signs luring me to explore further. My goal was to reach Nashville and start my family research at the Tennessee State Archives but at the rate I was going I wasn’t sure I’d make it there in time.

This is what a trace of the historic road looks like

The Natchez Trace Parkway marks the alignment of an ancient thoroughfare begun by Native Americans and reinforced by early Americans during the 1700s and 1800s. In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson designated it a national post road for mail delivery between Nashville, Tennessee and Natchez, Mississippi. The parkway is 444 miles in length and traverses three states. It is a designated National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road.

My other stops were at milepost 401 to see a tobacco farm which interested me because my Virginia ancestors grew tobacco. At 404 I stopped at the trailhead for Jackson Falls but when I read the part about a steep trail I decided to pass. Milepost 407 offered a short, level walk to the Gordon House Historic site and family home.

My last brief stop was at a War of 1812 Memorial. The best part of this stop was encountering a couple traveling on an shiny orange, three-wheeled motorcycle – the couple looked to be in their mid 80s. I commented, “Hum, not your usual biker duds” and the woman respond, “we just love to travel this way”. Her husband was missing an arm but that didn’t seem to hamper him. All too soon I was at the end of the parkway but I’d seen enough to want to come back another time and drive the full length – maybe in fall when the trees will be in their fall colors.

Rustic log building near the Lewis gravesite

Monument to Meriwether Lewis

This monument to Meriwether Lewis was installed by the
DAR in 2006. Lewis led the Lewis and Clark expedition. Lewis
died near this site in 1809 while traveling to Washington DC

Tobacco barn where they dry Burley tobacco

Tobacco barn interior

This is what drying tobacco looks like -
makes you wonder why anyone would
smoke it.

The John Gordon home, built 1817. Gordon ran a trading post
 and ferry by agreement with George Colbert, Chickasaw Chief

View through the trees of farmland below