Cherokee in Colbert County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Trace Travelers

Natchez Trace Parkway

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, August 18, 2017

1. Trace Travelers Marker

Inscription. Frontier America once walked along the Natchez Trace.

The Chickasaw and Choctaw used the Trace for transportation and trade. After 1801, with tribal permission, post riders who rode the Trace connected isolated settlements in Mississippi and beyond.

Boatmen or farmers, known as Kaintucks, floated their products down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to market in Natchez, Mississippi. Then they sold their flatboats as lumber and walked home along the Trace. On foot, the 500-mile trip took about 35 days. By 1810 occasional travel had turned into human flood; up to 10,000 Kaintucks passed along the well-trodden path each year.

Chickasaw moving south pass Kaintucks on the northbound leg of their journey home.

During the War of 1812, the Trace became a road for American armies marching to and from battle.

Steamboats—powerful enough to sail up the Mississippi River—stemmed the tide of Trace use.

Erected by Natchez Trace Parkway,  National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities

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• Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers • War of 1812. In addition, it is included in the Natchez Trace series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1801.

Location. 34° 50.052′ N, 87° 56.89′ W. Marker is in Cherokee, Alabama, in Colbert County. It can be reached from Natchez Trace Parkway (at milepost 327.3), 1.3 miles east of N Pike (County Route 21), on the left when traveling east. Marker is located in Natchez Trace Parkway Colbert Ferry Park near the restrooms. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cherokee AL 35616, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Alabama

and in the Shoals.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, August 18, 2017

2. Trace Travelers Marker

walking distance of this marker: Chickasaw Hospitality (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Chickasaw Planter (approx. 0.2 miles away); Colbert's Stand (approx. ¼ mile away); George Colbert Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Welcome! (approx. 0.4 miles away); Colbert Ferry (approx. 0.4 miles away); Safe Crossing (approx. 0.4 miles away); Wet, Wild, and Wonderful (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cherokee.

Also see . . . Natchez Trace Parkway. National Park Service (Submitted on August 21, 2017.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 21, 2017. It was originally submitted on August 20, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 966 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 20, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.