Along the Natchez Trace

Some readers contacted me about Mississippi ratifying the 13th amendment only in 2013. Mississippi only removed the "redneck swastika" from their state flag in 2021.

A personal pet peeve is the misuse and ignorance of the Confederate Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

This flag is square and never was the flag of the Confederate States of America

This flag is rectangular and was never used during the Civil War. The "redneck swastika" was resurrected by the KKK and fraudulent "Lost Cause" after Reconstruction as a symbol for White Supremacy, ignorance, and racism.

Below is the original state flag of Mississippi from 1863-1895. Note the Battle Flag was not part of this flag during or after the Civil War. There was no state flag before this. None of the rebel states had the Battle Flag as part of their state flags during the war. The Battle Flag motif was added to state flags after Reconstruction.

Original Mississippi state flag, with magnolia tree

In 1895 the Klu Klux Klan, aka the Legislature, made this the Mississippi state flag, thirty years after the end of Civil War.

KKK- approved state flag, until last year

In 2019 the Legislature of the state with the highest Black population percentage realized maybe the flag should be changed. However, 60% of the electorate thought the old KKK-approved flag was just dandy. After lots of politicking and arguments, the flag below became official January 11, 2021

The second magnolia flag

We stopped at Milepost 269.4 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, just north of Tupelo, MS. Thirteen unknown soldiers are buried here. Names and details of the thirteen are not known, but they are probably wounded Confederate deserters who died here after losing at the battle of Shiloh April 6-7, 1862.

Note the flags below. The one on the right is the Stars and Bars, the first official flag of the Confederacy: totally appropriate. The rectangular flag on the left is the current flag of hate and ignorance that was paraded in the Capitol. Every grave marker had at least one redneck swastika, only a few had official Confederate flags. My amateur history research indicates there would not have been any Confederate Battle Flags during the Shiloh battle. 

I do not know why there were pennies on top of every marker.





Interestingly, an earlier photo (no date given) showed these markers mostly with USA flags. 


Sorry for my flag rant, but this leads to our visit to Mississippi Museum of Civil Rights, and the adjoining Museum of Mississippi History, located in Jackson, the state capital.

In sharp contrast to the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture in Natchez, this large museum was extremely well-funded. Lots of screaming headlines, videos, bold graphics and quotes, music and speeches played, etc. Many powerful images, all carefully curated for maximum impact very quickly for a highly distractible generation.

History factoid: By 1860 Mississippi was producing over 675 lbs of cotton per person (free and enslaved) per year, and the enslaved population was greater than the free.

However, I thought the humble museum in Natchez was more effective. I am impressed how the state has managed to put together a high impact museum that is not a paean to former enslavers, though. However, I did not see any exhibit discussing the Mississippi flags. Too recent, or too controversial?

Jackson is named after President Andrew Jackson, without doubt the most genocidal US president. Jackson, Trump's favorite president, ran coffles of enslaved down the Natchez Trace. The Trail of Tears was the forced march of almost all indigenous people from the South to West of the Mississippi River; estimates that almost half the Indians died on the death march. Jackson led the Seminole Indian Wars in Florida with the intent to eliminate the native population.

And, like Trump, Jackson was a populist, always claiming to be for the common (white) man, a simple soldier with over 1000 acres of cotton land on his forced work camp and hundreds of enslaved people. His attempted total elimination of indigenous people east of the Mississippi River was to open their land to forced worked camps which needed at least a million enslaved people.


The Natchez Trace Parkway is part of the National Park Service. The roadway is well maintained two lane road with no shoulders, maximum speed 50 mph. No traffic lights or stop signs, very few cross roads, and mostly overpasses to avoid other highways. At this time of year it is nearly empty. Very pleasant and easy driving, trees and fields on both sides, but not especially exciting.

We stopped in Tupelo, where two things have happened. The Battle of Tupelo in 1864 is commemorated  in a small park with an anodyne monument to the dead soldiers of both sides. The KKK-allies erected an additional monument in 1918 to remember the Confederates who died "for their rights". Really? Their rights to enslave people? 

The other thing that happened in Tupelo was the birth of Elvis Presley. OMG!!!  A 20 acre theme park celebrates his childhood, his first guitar at age 11, a car similar to the one his father drove to Memphis, etc., etc. Almost everything about Elvis, who left Tupelo forever at age 11, except that he died. His death is never mentioned. Who knows, maybe he didn't die. 

Speaking of things never mentioned, we stopped at the Natchez Trace Info Center.  Lots of history, then "about 1820 the road was abandoned and not used any more". What about the chain gangs of enslaved people forced march from the upper South? Andrew Jackson's Coffle? Arguably the most intense use of the Trace was during the massive marches of enslaved people southward 1830-1860. Selective history.

Yesterday we were in Houlka at Davis Lake Campground, north of Jackson. Very quiet and relaxing, t-shirt weather at last. Our site is lakefront, with lots of noisy frogs, ducks, and geese; our view is just woods and water. The weather is finally warm enough to have a campfire. We have had so much cold weather it has been too unpleasant to stay outside with just a fire.

Houlka is a tiny town, c. 600 residents. Not much commerce. I had a trailer issue that needed two screws to fix, and went downtown to find a hardware store. Success. The retirement-age salesguy spent at least five minutes with me, then called the owner over. Another few minutes of going through bin by bin, and we found the right sized screws. How much? He refused to let me pay. Very friendly.

The small supermarket was well stocked. I have not ever seen #10 cans of ketchup except in school cafeterias, thanks to Ronald Reagan.

They also had 10 lb packages of frozen frog legs, imported from Vietnam, and lots of well-priced baby back ribs. Sadly my freezer didn't have space.

The Tanglewood Trail is a 46 mile perfectly-paved rails-to-trails bicycle path that runs through Houlka. Too bad we didn't have bikes. The trail is quite a contrast to a dying town.

Happy Trails,

Krem and Barbara