Editing Natchez Trace (section)

==Origins==
[[File:OldTraceSunken.jpg|thumb|right|The "Sunken Trace"]]

Largely following a geologic ridge line, prehistoric animals followed the dry ground of the Trace to distant grazing lands, the [[salt lick]]s of today's [[Middle Tennessee]], and to the Mississippi River. Native Americans used many [[History of infrastructure#Before 1700|early footpaths]] created by the foraging of [[American Bison|bison]], [[deer]], and other large [[game (food)|game]] that could break paths through the dense undergrowth. In the case of the Trace, bison traveled north to find salt licks in the Nashville area.<ref>{{cite book | last =Lay| first =M G| title = Ways of the world| publisher =Primavera Press| year =1992| location =Sydney| pages =401| isbn = 1-875368-05-1}}, p5</ref>

After Native Americans began to settle the land, they [[Trail blazing|blazed the trail]] and improved it further until it became a relatively well-established path. Numerous [[prehistoric]] [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] settlements in Mississippi were established along the Natchez Trace. Among them were the 2,000-year-old [[Pharr Mounds]] of the Middle [[Woodland period]], located near present-day [[Tupelo, Mississippi]].

The first recorded European explorer to travel the Trace in its entirety was an unnamed [[Frenchman]] in 1742, who wrote of the trail and its "miserable conditions". Early European explorers depended on the assistance of Native American guides to go through this territory — specifically, the [[Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw]] who occupied the region. These tribes and earlier prehistoric peoples, collectively known as the [[Mississippian culture]], had long used the Trace for trade. The Chickasaw leader, Chief [[Piomingo]], made use of the trail so often that it became known as '''Piominko's Path''' during his lifetime.<ref name= "ntrace">[https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2017/09/11/chickasaw-leader-piominko-impacted-us-mississippi-history/ ''Chickasaw Leader Piominko Impacted US, Mississippi History'']; article; Morris, M. Scott; The Oxford Eagle online; Oxford, Mississippi; (September 11, 2017); retrieved March 2023</ref> Another early common name was '''Trail to the Chickasaw Nation'''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=D. Clayton |title=Antebellum Natchez |date=1993 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |isbn=978-0-8071-1860-3 |location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana |lccn=68028496 |oclc=28281641 |orig-date=1968}}</ref>{{Rp|page=42}}