The Natchez Trace, evolved from buffalo and Indian trails into the first national highway of the Southwest, was cut and opened under authority of the United States Government after treaties negotiated with the Chickasaw and the Choctaw in 1801. Designed to meet early necessities of trade between Nashville and the country of the Lower Mississippi, it remained an enduring path of pioneer commerce and also held military significance in the history of the United States. Part of Andrew Jackson's army passed over it during his campaign against the Creek Indians in 1813 and again on his return from the Battlefield of New Orleans in 1815. Before Jackson's soldiers had brought renown to the road through Talladega and New Orleans, it had already gained melancholy fame when Meriwether Lewis, traveling over it on his way to Philadelphia to edit the story of his great expedition, met his untimely death there on the night of Oct. 11, 1809.
