Thanks, Dusty! Angelyn ---- [email protected] wrote: > ToAll: > > Yesterday I received a message through another list that a huge collection of private manuscripts, letters, deeds, bills and copies of court records entitled the "Natchez Trace Small Manuscript Collection" has been sold by a private Mississippi collector to the University of Texas at Austin. I was told that the Mississippi State Archives personnel were quite upset that they could not afford to purchase this collection, which took many 18-wheeler trucks to move it to the Austin university library. Anyone investigating their Choctaw (and other) ancestors in Mississippi, Alabama or anywhere along the Natchez Trace may benefit from this collection newly made available to the public. The Natchez Trace was an ancient trail used by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee and other Indians. It runs 440 miles connecting the southern portions of the Mississippi River Delta to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. "The Natchez Trace experienced its heaviest use from 1785 to 1820 by ! th! > e "Kaintuck" boatmen that floated the Ohio and Miss. Rivers to markets in Natchez and New Orleans. They sold their cargo and boats and began the trek back north enroute to Nashville and points beyond. It was (and still is) a significant historical trail through Miss., Ala. and Tenn." that was originally a prehistoric buffalo trail. I've seen some places where this trail is worn down as much as 20 feet into the ground. It's a fascinating place to visit for those interested in archeology and paleontology. > > In glancing at the list of papers, letters, etc. in this collection I see many surnames that were connected to the early Choctaws. You can access an index of these surnames at: > > http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00140/cah-00140.html#a23 > > dusty > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message