June 2016
the people who built them, my curiosity got a jump-start wondering about not only Indian mounds but lots of other stuff. A curiosity I still have. The history of our mounds is fascinating. Most were built between about 500 and 1500 AD, but some of them are as old as the pyramids in Egypt. They were constructed by societies established well enough to trade for items like copper from the Great Lakes and stones from as far away as the Rockies. Now we can discover our mounds all over again by following the new Mississippi Mound Trail. The 33 mounds documented by the trail are located roughly along Highway 61 bordering the Mississippi River. There are lots more mounds scattered about the state and I am sure later additions to the trail will include many of them too. Each one featured has a Mound Trail marker similar to the Blues Trail and Country Trail markers you already know. And thanks to MDOT and county road departments, each of the mark-
ers has a pull-off parking area so you don’t have to stop on the edge of the road. The Mississippi Mounds Trail further clarifies the 33 mounds on the trail and pulls them out of the group picture of all mounds, allowing them to stand out as individuals so we can get to know them better. Go to www.trails.mdah.ms.gov to get information about the Mound Trail. I got a handy-dandy printed guide booklet of the trail while I was at Winterville the other day. Just a reminder: When you take your road trip, it is summer in Mis’sippi so carry along your mosquito spray.
Walt Grayson is the host of “Mississippi Roads” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting television, and the author of two “Looking Around Mississippi” books and “Oh! That Reminds Me: More Mississippi Homegrown Stories.” Contact Grayson at walt@waltgrayson.com.
These Butterfly Deep Pink pentas, top, are combined with Gold Threads alternanthera and Archangel Angelonia. The Butterfly series, such as these red pentas, above, produce flowers all summer long with little effort. Photos: MSU Extension/Gary Bachman
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