“Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much”

Franklin Delanor Roosevelt

The story of the Blues in Mississippi and Louisiana is an amazing tale and if one really makes an effort to delve into its rich history one must have time to spare.

In our last post we began our journey along The Blues Trail in Memphis traveling south to Clarksdale in a “A Blues Sojourn”

In this post we continue to follow Highway 61 south to New Orleans and along the way we find much more than just the blues.

In Mississippi and Louisiana there are other trails to follow such as the Indian Mound Trail, The Mississippi River Trail, the Country Music Trail, Natchez Trace Parkway Trail and one of my favorites, the BBQ Trail.

A few of the historic photos and videos displayed in this post were taken while visiting the many museums we encountered along the way.

This important rail crossing caused Morehead to became a major gathering point where a few white folk and many black folks came together on the weekends to celebrate the end of a hard week of manual labor.

The museum exhibits are wonderfully displayed with many important artifacts from BB’s life.  The museum also includes an excellent presentation about life in the delta.

Arriving in historic Vicksburg, we were in for a real surprise. Situated on a high bank above the river it was easy to get a feel for what life along the river must have been like in the early days.

The Mississippi River has long played a major part in the historical, economic and residential development of Vicksburg.

Vicksburg’s best known contribution to American history is probably the part it played in the epic conflict known as the Civil War. The National Cemetery holds over 17,000 soldiers graves.

Willie Dixon, often called ‘the poet laureate of the blues,’ was born in Vicksburg on July 1, 1915.

As a songwriter, producer, arranger and bass player Willie shaped the sound of the Chicago blues in the 1950s and ’60s with songs such as Little Red Rooster, Hoochie Coochie Man and Wang Dang Doodle.

Willie traced many of his works back to poems and songs he heard or wrote as a youth in Vicksburg.

Stern Wheeler Tours In Vicksburg

In 1800’s Vicksburg, riverboat travel up and down the Mississippi was fraught with danger. Many sandbars and river bends were littered with the remains of hundreds of sunken boats.

With cotton being the primary cash crop in the surrounding counties it caused Vicksburg to became a bustling place with dozens of paddle wheelers coming and going daily.

The Blues Trail parallels the Natchez Trace Parkway as it passes through Tennessee and Mississippi.

The Trace is a 444-mile scenic road that roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace” the  historic travel corridor used by American Indians, “Kaintucks,” European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents.

This All American Road is maintained by the National Park Service, to commemorate the original route of the Trace. 

Access onto the parkway is limited and commercial traffic is forbidden making for a leisurely driving experience as it passes through dense forests.

“Kaintucks” known as boatmen would float their flatboats down the Mississippi River to sell their goods at the markets in Natchez and New Orleans. 

Before riverboats had the ability to go upstream under their own power, boatmen had to return home by making the long walk north along the Natchez Trace.

 

 

We now will head west again and back into deserts…..keep you posted!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!