Charley's Trace

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

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 (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 roads 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 Prairies". 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.
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.

33.722675°N 90.315769°W / 33.722675; -90.315769