My original intention was simply to turn left in Natchez and head immediately up the Natchez Trace. I made the mistake of staying overnight and stumbled onto a place of historical significance. Natchez was settled in the mid 1700's but it's wealth came from the vast cotton farms along the Mississippi delta. It seems that the reason why there were no fine homes amongst the cotton fields on route 65 is that few were ever built there. They were built in Natchez and many remain in good order. The civil war (or the interstate war as southerners call it) ended their reign of power simply because for 4 years no crops were produced and the farms failed financially. I toured one of the homes and they are truly palatial. I spent nearly the whole day in Natchez and still have not attacked the Trace. Instead and on local advice I took hwy 61 to Vicksburg – a town where it is said the fate of a nation was settled in 1863. Tomorrow I visit the Vicksburg National Military Park .
