Civil War and DAR Monuments

"This ancient roadway lost much of its usefulness after the arrival of the steamboats in 1812 and completion of the Jackson Military Road in 1820.

"Though the road began to fade into the shadows of time, it still conjured up vivid images of adventure and peril in the minds of those who had used and survived its ancient steps. This was the era of the road's demise and yet it began to take on a mystique and became known for the first time by the name "Natchez Trace."

"During the 1860s the Civil War raged around the region where the Natchez Trace had been so vital. Although the War Between the States touched many sites along its path, the old road had passed its prime and played no major part in the war itself.

"The old Road was rediscovered around the turn of the 20th Century, and as the ancient history of the road became more popular the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the War of 1812 took on the project of commemorating the frontier people and their travels along the Old Natchez Trace. In the first few decades of the 1900s, these organizations erected monuments in almost all the counties in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee where the old road had passed.

"For Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com