Choctaw People

Located about 10 miles northeast of Natchez, Mississippi, Emerald Mound is the second-largest Mississippian Period ceremonial mound in the United States, surpassed only by Monk’s Mound near Cahokia, Illinois. Built and used between the years 1200 C.E. (current era) and 1600 C.E., this 35-foot-high mound covers eight acres and measures 770 feet by 435 feet at its base.

Grindstone Ford - This ford marked the beginning of the Choctaw Nation and the end of the Old Natchez District. Nearby Fort Deposit was a supply depot for troops clearing the Trace in 1801-1802, and troops were assembled here during the Burr conspiracy allegedly to separate the western states from the Union. The site takes its name from a nearby water mill. This site is not accessible by vehicles taller than 11 feet in height.

To improve communication to the Old Southwest, the Natchez Trace was declared a post road in 1800. Afterwards, with Choctaw permission, improvements to this section of the Old Trace began. In 1805, the Choctaw allowed inns, known as stands to be built along the route to provide basic food and shelter to travelers. By 1811, Noble Osburn opened a stand near this spot. He was known to treat equally his Choctaw neighbors and American travelers.

The homeland boundary of the Choctaw Indians who lived here during the beginning of the European migration into this area.

Today, Jackson is the capital of Mississippi and the center of government business, but in the 1800’s this region was the center of business between the U.S. Government and the Choctaw Indians. The Choctaw’s homeland (Chahta yakni aboha) included lands that became the states of Mississippi and Alabama, but the land was gradually ceded to the U.S. Government. The last cession was made in 1830, following the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

Brashears Stand is named after Turner Brashears, who moved to the area in the late 1700s. He became a trader with the Choctaw and learned their language. Travelers on the Natchez Trace generally seemed to be pleased with their treatment and accommodations at Brashears Stand. In addition to earning money from his stand operation, Brashears prospered by selling land and enslaved people.

A transitional American Indian mound site. Partially built in separate centuries.

Scenic overlook and northern trailhead for Chisha Foka Multi-use trail

After 1800, treaties between the Choctaw and the US government whittled away tribal rights and lands. Finally, in 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was negotiated at a council house near this spot. All the remaining Choctaw homeland--nearly 10.5 million acres--was taken.

Louis LeFleur first traded with the Choctaws at a bluff now part of Jackson, Mississippi. About 1812, he established his stand 900 feet to the northeast on the Natchez Trace. Because of the LeFleur's nationality the area was often called "French Camp", a name retained by the present village. LeFleur married a Choctaw woman. Their famous son who changed his name to Greenwood Leflore, became a Choctaw chief and a Mississippi State Senator. For him are named the city of Gree