Peoples of the Mississippi

When: April 28 - May 5, 2012
Where: Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
How Much: $1,695 ($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 28
Join us in Memphis for a welcoming cocktail party and an introductory lecture with archaeologist Dr. Jeffrey Mitchem, who is stationed at Parkin Archaeological site and is an archaeologist with the Arkansas Archaeological Survey.  We’ll spend the evening in Memphis.

Sunday, April 29
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. 

Monday, April 30
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. Our guide will be Dr. John House with the Arkansas Archaeological Survey. Continuing south, we will spend the night in Monroe, Louisiana.

Tuesday, May 1
We’ll start the day with pastries, coffee and a lecture about the Watson Brake site and then visit these famous Archaic Mounds, which the Conservancy helped 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 this evening and tomorrow evening in historic downtown Natchez.

Wednesday, May 2
In the morning, we’ll visit the Natchez visitor’s center and then tour the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, destroyed by the French in 1729.  After lunch we’ll visit several pre-Civil War homes and enjoy a guided tour of the city given by local experts.

Thursday, May 3
In the morning, we’ll visit Emerald Mound, the third largest Mississippian temple mound in the U.S. and then have lunch at the famous Lorman Country Store, which was featured on the Food Network and is said to have the best fried chicken in the South. Lunch will be followed by a trip to Prospect Hill plantation, one of the Conservancy’s newest preserves, with a rich antebellum history. Then we’ll go on to Vicksburg Military Park to tour the Civil War battlefield where Grant laid siege to the city and finally broke the Confederate blockade of the Mississippi.  We’ll also see the gun boat USS Cairo.  We’ll spend the night in Vicksburg. 

Friday, May 4
We’ll visit the Winterville Mounds Park in Greenville, Mississippi, with director, Mark Howell. Winterville is part of an ongoing research project by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the University of Southern Mississippi.  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 a walking tour led by State Archaeologist John Connaway of the Carson Mound site, a Conservancy preserve near Clarksdale where the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the University of Mississippi have been conducting research.  We’ll spend the evening in Memphis.

Saturday, May 5
Participants depart for home.

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