Tupelo Residents Get 18th Century History Lesson

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By Chad Groening

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — Visitors to the Natchez Trace Visitors Center got an idea of what was going on the Tupelo area in the early 18th century.

Historian Brian Mast gave an account of the Battle of Ackia in 1736, when the French attempted to subdue the Chickasaw Indians.

He also demonstrated how the soldiers survived in the wilderness that is now the Tupelo area.

Mast says the French proved no match for the Chickasaws.

“The Chickasaw were victorious against the French army,” he said. “And that victory did not allow the French to expand further inland, to increase the size of new France. In doing that they checked them, the French never really recovered from it and it’s one of the reasons the British were able to easily expand further into what is today Tennessee, Kentucky and into the midwest.”

The program is part of a series provided by the Natchez Trace Parkway to educate visitors.