Natchez Trace

Natchez Trace, road, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn., of great commercial and military importance from the 1780s to the 1830s. It grew from a series of Native American trails used in the 18th cent. by the French, English, and Spanish. At first traveled only N from Natchez to Nashville, because the American frontiersmen could float goods S to New Orleans by flatboat, it came to be used in both directions with U.S. expansion into the Old Southwest. It was made a post road in 1800 and was improved by the army. Andrew Jackson marched over the Trace to New Orleans in the War of 1812. With the coming of steamboat transportation, however, it passed into decline. The

Natchez Trace Parkway and

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail memorialize and generally follow the old Natchez Trace. Meriwether Lewis Park and Ackia Battleground (now called Chickasaw Village), both former national monuments, were incorporated into Natchez Trace Parkway in 1961 (see National Parks and Monuments, table).

---

Natchez Trace

Old road, southeastern U.S. It follows an Indian trail (or trace) to the northeast from Natchez, Miss., across northwestern Alabama to Nashville, Tenn., and is more than 500 mi (800 km) long. A wagon road constructed in the early 19th century was used by traders and settlers. Among its historical landmarks are the Emerald and Bynum Indian ceremonial mounds and Chickasaw Village, in Mississippi, and Napier Mine and Metal Ford in Tennessee.