Most residents of south Alabama are aware of the system of trails and travel ways first used by the Native Americans and later incorporated into the east/west route known as the Federal Road. This route has been celebrated over the past couple of years marking its 200^th anniversary.

Overall, the Federal Road made a tremendous impact on the region, bringing thousands of settlers into America’s southern frontier. A lesser known (at least in this area), yet just as important byway, is the Natchez Trace, which runs east to west from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi.

The over 400 miles of trail originated as a prehistoric route, but like the Federal Road, was quickly appropriated by hunters, traders and settlers making their way into the American Frontier.

Historians understand that the Natchez Trace was used originally by buffalo and other animals moving along the trails between the salt licks in the Nashville area to the rich grazing lands in the Mississippi River region. Making the most of the situation, prehistoric hunters followed the herds for food. Initially, the path wound its way through the northwestern section of what would become Alabama, passing through Lauderdale and Colbert counties.

Into the early days of the 18^th century, European settlers began to use the trail to their benefit. And, much like the Federal Road of the 19^th century, improvements were made to ease the travel for large numbers that found their way west of the route. At first, the trail was widened for foot traffic and then for horses and wagons.

The Trace quickly became a well-used trade route into the region. Again, like the Federal Road, the United States government set out to improve the Trace as a means of enhancing the U.S. presence in the region as a counter to the powerful French, who still competed for control of the North American continent.

In particular, Thomas Jefferson sought to increase the American position in the important region while seeking to limit France’s ability to claim control along the Mississippi River.

As early as 1801, the United States Army began a project to improve the Natchez Trace. Soon afterward, the route emerged as the major trade path along which goods and people traveled from the eastern states and the American frontier.

For a brief period, commerce along the Trace grew at a staggering rate. To accommodate the increased traffic flow, inns and tavern sprang up along the way to service the weary and to care for the horses that pulled the wagons and stages. And, like the Federal Road, the Natchez Trace was vital to the settlement of an entire region and the fulfillment of the United States' perceived manifest destiny.

Regardless of the early success of the Natchez Trace, it inevitably succumbed to the advancement of technology. By the 1820s, the route was superseded by Andrew Jackson’s Military Road and the introduction of the steamboat. By the 1830s, the route had all but been abandoned. Nearly 100 years later, a government sponsored project to help fight the Great Depression breathed new life into the Trace. The trail was incorporated into the Natchez Trace Parkway, overseen by the National Park Service. Today the trail is part of a 45,000-acre tract that is reminiscent of its wild beginnings.