The Natchez Trace existed for thousands of years, first as a buffalo trail, then a pathway American Indians, and finally, an important route for travel between the towns of Tennessee and Mississipi. General Andrew Jackson used part of The Trace to move his army to New Orleans in the famous battle of 1812. Explorer Meriwether Lewis died of a self-inflicted wound in a rustic cabin on the trace and is buried there.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, part of the National Park System, retraces the route from Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi. See http://www.nps.gov/natr/