Charley's Trace is a former Native American

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Charley's Trace (also spelled Charlie's Trace) is possibly named for a

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

trader who operated a steamboat fueling station near Clarksdale in the 1820s. There is some evidence that

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

used Charley's Trace to reach the Mississippi River on May 8, 1541. After the Mississippi Territory was open to settlement, Charley's Trace connected to other roads such as Gaines Trace and was used by

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s who operated in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

. Charley's Trace is possibly depicted on the Baron de Crenay's 1733 map of Louisiana. The 1755

Mitchell Map The Mitchell Map is a map made by John Mitchell (1711–1768), which was reprinted several times during the second half of the 18th century. The map, formally titled ''A map of the British and French dominions in North America'' &c., was used ...

may also depict Charley's Trace (labeled as "Route of Colonel Welch to the Mississippi River in 1698, since followed by our Traders"). A historical marker was placed by the Chakchiuma Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

on February 20, 1926. The marker was replaced with a newer one on May 21, 1955. No marker exists at the site today.

References

Hiking trails in Mississippi Protected areas of Leflore County, Mississippi Historic trails and roads in Mississippi {{Mississippi-road-stub