Eight and a Half Million Pounds of Stones

                               

We left Memphis and T. O. Fuller State Park around 9:15 Monday morning.  We headed east toward Florence, Alabama!!  We had an easy drive on "blue" roads until the last 15 miles and that is when we entered the Natchez Trace!!!  It"s no secret that we love this drive!!  Those of you that have been on it understand....its peaceful, quiet and easy going!!  Did I mention not too crowded either??  We followed this portion of the Trace until we exited on highway 2 to Florence.  We stopped at Colbert Ferry and ate a quick lunch!!  This is the area that Chickasaw George Colbert operated a stand and ferry in the early 1800s.  There is not much left to see of this ferry except the Tennessee River!!          

We made our way into Florence to McFarland Park Campground.  This is a huge city park named McFarland Park that also includes a campground.  There are sites that overlook the Tennessee River and then some that simply have a view.  All sites are concrete, clean and pretty level.  All have full hookups.  The price is $25.00 per night and seniors pay $20.00.  Our site backs up to the river with a gorgeous view!!                

The view from our back window 

Our site on the river

Looking to the right of our site

We quickly unhooked and got set up and headed out to one of the places that was a "must see" on our list!!  Wichahpi Stone Wall!!!  We have our fellow RVer and blogger, Milia, to thank for this awesome find.  She drove the Natchez Trace several years ago and wrote about it in her blog.  Very detailed and she included this amazing place!!                    

                                                   

A little history::  Tom Hendrix worked on building this stone wall for over 30 years in memory and honor of his great-great-grandmother's journey.  Her name was Te-lah-nay and she was part of the Yuchi Indian tribe that lived along the Tennessee River in the 1800s.            

She and her sister were part of the Trail of Tears and sent from their home here on the Tennessee River to Oklahoma.  Her tribe had called the Tennessee River the Singing River because they believed a woman lived in the river and she sang to them.  When she arrived in Oklahoma she no longer heard the "singing river."   She spent one winter in Oklahoma and decided to return to her beloved Singing River.  Her walk back to this area from Oklahoma alone using all the skills her grandmother had taught her took five years!!!!                

After hearing of this story from Te-lah-nay's grandmother Tom knew he wanted to do something in her memory and honor!!  In a conversation with an elder of the Yuchi tribe he was told, "All things shall pass.  Only the stones will remain."  It was then he knew what he would do.
To Mr. Hendrix the wall is a mile long holy place that winds through his property.  It has never been advertised....simply a place that "if you build it they will come." Please click HERE to read this story.
           

         

                   

After walking the length of the wall, Charlie Two Moons, a spiritual person, said:
"The wall does not belong to you, Brother Tom.  It belongs to all people.  You are just the keeper.  I will tell you that it is wichahpi, which means "like the stars."  When they come, some will ask, "Why does it bend, and why is it higher and wider in some places than in others?"  Tell them it is like your great-great-grandmother's journey, and their journey through life ---it is never straight."

Mr. Tom Hendrix passed away February 24, 2017.  He was 83 years old.