Detail of Baron de Crenay's 1733 map of Louisiana (Charley's Trace is thought to be the red line in center)

Charley's Trace is a former Native American trail to the Mississippi River.

Charley's Trace (also spelled Charlie's Trace) is possibly named for a Choctaw trader who operated a steamboat fueling station near Clarksdale in the 1820s.[1] There is some evidence that Hernando de Soto used Charley's Trace to reach the Mississippi River on May 8, 1541.[2] After the Mississippi Territory was open to settlement, Charley's Trace connected to other road such as Gaines Trace and was used by outlaws who operated in the Mississippi Delta.[3]

Charley's Trace is possibly depicted on the Baron de Crenay's 1733 map of Louisiana.[4] The 1755 Mitchell Map may also depict Charley's Trace (labeled as "Route of Colonel Welch to the Mississippi River in 1698, since followed by our Traders").[5]

A historical marker was placed by the Chakchiuma Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on February 20, 1926. The marker was replaced with a newer one on May 21, 1955. No marker exists at the site today.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Brown, James A.; Sasso, Robert F. (2001). "15: Prelude to History on the Eastern Praries". In Brose, David S.; Cowan, C. Wesley; Mainfort, Robert C., Jr. (eds.). Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400-1700. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-8173-8339-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  2. ↑ Brown, Ian W. (2008). "Chapter 16. Culture Contact Along the I-69 Corridor: Protohistoric and Historic Use of the Northern Yazoo Basin, Mississippi". In Rafferty, Janet; Peacock, Evan (eds.). Time's River: Archaeological Syntheses from the Lower Mississippi Valley. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-8173-8112-7.
  3. ↑ Works Progress Administration (1938). Mississippi: A Guide to the Magnolia State. New York, New York: Viking Press. p. 88.
  4. ↑ Elliott, Jack D. Jr. (2006). "Of Roads and Reifications: The Interpretation of Historical Roads and the Soto Entrada". In Galloway, Patricia Kay (ed.). The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, Historiography, and "discovery" in the Southeast. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 257. ISBN 0-8032-7122-0.
  5. ↑ Abernathy, Harry (April 5, 1988). "Charley's Trace route used by DeSoto". The Clarksdale Press Register. p. 1. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Historical Markers Placed by the MSSDAR". Mississippi DAR. Retrieved February 16, 2023.

33°43′22″N 90°18′57″W / 33.722675°N 90.315769°W / 33.722675; -90.315769


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