The Chickasaw Fort
An interpretive panel at the
site features an artist's idea of
the appearance of the fort.
The Fort Site Today
The National Park Service
now maintains the site as a
stop along the Natchez Trace.
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Chickasaw Village and Fort, Mississippi
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Chickasaw Village and Fort, Mississippi
Chickasaw Village and Fort Site - Tupelo, Mississippi
Chickasaw Village and Fort Site
The site of a Chickasaw town dating from the early
1700s can be explored in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Wars for Empire in Mississippi
The modern city of Tupelo has been a center
of population in Northeast Mississippi for
hundreds of years. The Native American
phase of this history can be explored at the
historic Chickasaw Village and Fort Site on
the
Natchez Trace Parkway in the western
edge of
Tupelo.

When the first European explorers entered
this area of Mississippi, it was the home of
the powerful Chickasaw nation. Hernando de
Soto battled the Chickasaw when he invaded
the region in 1541, but while the Spanish
explorer found his death beyond the
Mississippi River, the Chickasaw remained.

During the late 1600s they fell under the
influence of English traders who came west
from Charleston, South Carolina, seeking
wealth in the fur trade. The strong alliance
that developed with the English placed the
Chickasaw on a collision course with the
French, who claimed possession of the
Mississippi Valley.

War was the result and during the early
1800s the Chickasaw found themselves in a
violent war for survival against the French
and their allies the Choctaw.

The Chickasaw Village and Fort site at
Tupelo dates from this area. Archaeologists
working here have found the remains of an
Indian town complete with a rectangular fort.
The stockade was likely constructed as a
defense against the French at the time of the
18th century war.

The conflict escalated from minor predatory
raids to a full-scale war that would last for
more than a decade. The climactic campaign
came in 1736 when Jean-Baptiste Le  Moyne
de Bienville, Governor of Louisiana, put large
forces in the field to attack the primary
Chickasaw towns of Ogoula Tchetoka and
Ackia, both in the Tupelo vicinity.

The Battles of Ogoula Tchetoka and Ackia
ended in bloody disasters for the French.
Bienville tried again in 1739, but disease and
the difficulty of moving his siege train ended
the campaign.
It was once thought that the Chickasaw
Village and Fort Site  was the location of the
Battle of Ackia and in 1936 it was declared
the Ackia Battlefield National Monument.

Later research, however, revealed that the
battle was fought nearby at a site now
covered by Tupelo's Lee Acres subdivision.

The Chickasaw Village site was absorbed by
the Natchez Trace Parkway in 1961 and is
now preserved as a park area and historic
site. The National Park Service maintains the
site which includes interpretive panels and
concrete curbing outlining the site of the fort
and other structures.

The site is located on the
Natchez Trace
Parkway in Tupelo and is open during
daylight hours.
Interpretive Display
Interpretive panels like this
help visitors visualize the
Chickasaw village.
A Fort of Unique Design
As this marker explains, the
fort was built with inward
sloping walls and an interior
trench.
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Copyright 2011 by Dale Cox
All rights reserved.