Peoples of the Mississippi

When: April 17-24, 2010
Where: Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
How Much: $1,595 ($285 single supplement)

Beginning in Memphis and following the Mississippi River south to Natchez, our journey travels through more than five thousand years of history – from ancient earthen mounds to Civil War battlefields.

As early as 3500 B.C. and for the next five thousand years, rich and complex moundbuilder cultures developed along the fertile Mississippi River Valley.  But in the 1500s Spanish invasions led to a drastic decline in the native population.

Amidst the charm of the Old South and the magic of one of the world’s greatest rivers, our trip explores the region’s fascinating cultures.

Saturday, April 17
Join us in Memphis for a welcoming cocktail party and an introductory lecture with archaeologist Dr. Jeffrey Mitchem.  We’ll spend the evening in Memphis.

Sunday, April 18
We’ll cross the river, following DeSoto’s route to Parkin, Arkansas.  Today the 18-acre moated village is a state park.  Then we’ll head to the McClellan-Ritter Site, a Conservancy preserve that was occupied during the Woodland and Mississippian periods. Next we’ll go to Wilson to visit the Hampson Museum.  We’ll spend the evening near Tunica, Mississippi.

Monday, April 19
Our first stop is Battery D, a Civil War site that was one of the four defense batteries in Union-held Helena, Arkansas.  After lunch we’ll visit the Conservancy’s Menard-Hodges preserve on the Arkansas River.  This site has at least six mounds and was likely the Quapaw village of Osotouy.  Here in 1686 the Frenchman Henri de Tonti established the first European settlement west of the Mississippi.  Continuing south, we’ll stop for the day at in West Monroe, Louisiana, where we’ll have refreshments and a lecture by Louisiana archaeologist Dr. Joe Saunders.

Tuesday, April 20
We’ll visit the Watson Brake Mounds, a Conservancy preserve.  This magnificent mound complex dates to 3500 B.C. and is perhaps the earliest mound site in North America.  Next we’ll stop at Poverty Point, one of America’s most complex prehistoric sites dating to 1700 B.C.  We’ll spend the next two evenings in historic downtown Natchez.

Wednesday, April 21
In the morning we’ll tour the Grand Village of the Natchez, destroyed by the French in 1729.  At Emerald Mound we’ll see the huge Mississippian temple mound, third largest in the U.S.  After lunch we’ll visit several pre-Civil War homes and enjoy a guided tour of the city given by local experts.

Thursday, April 22
In the morning, we’ll head north up the fabled Highway 61.  We’ll visit the legendary Windsor Ruins, the remains of a great plantation home that was once a landmark for Mark Twain as he traveled the Mississippi.  Then we’ll go on to Vicksburg to tour the Civil War battlefield where Grant laid siege to the city and finally broke the Confederate blockade of the Mississippi.  Afterward, we’ll visit Lake George, one of the most impressive mound sites in Mississippi. 

Friday, April 23
We’ll visit the Winterville Mounds, part of an ongoing research project by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.  Then we’ll head to Clarksdale for a good ole Delta Blues lunch at Ground Zero, actor Morgan Freeman’s famed Blues club. After lunch, we’ll take the a walking tour of the Carson Mound site, a Conservancy preserve near Clarksdale where the University of Mississippi has been conducting research for three years. Then we’ll head to Tunica where we’ll experience the beauty and grandeur of the Mississippi River at the new River Park Museum.

Saturday, April 24
Participants depart for home.

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