Tishomingo

Sometime between 1837 and 1839, an old Chickasaw warrior and medicine man, Chief Tishu Miku died while walking from northern Mississippi to the "Indian Country" in Oklahoma where the Chickasaw had been forcibly relocated.  At the time he died, Chief Tishu Miku was rumored to be 100 years old.  He was the last great leader of the free Chickasaw, when they still lived, hunted, and roamed through the bluffs of northern Mississippi.

While the current capitol of the Chickasaw nation is located in Oklahoma, that capitol is called Tishomingo (the Americanized version of the great chief's name), in honor of their great leader.  And although the Chickasaw nation has been in Oklahoma since 1856, it's flag still references the great chief, the Mississippi River (which means "without source" in Chickasaw), and the geography of northern Mississippi, their ancestral home.

Upon visiting Tishomingo State Park, in northeastern Mississippi, you can well see why this land was and is so revered by many Chickasaw, and the Europeans who came after them.  The geography here is much different that what I had conjured in my imagination as The Deep South.  From the rolling bluffs, the unique rock outcroppings, and the deep rock ravines of it's small creeks and streams, this is special land.  We spent several days here, hiking in the warm, gentle rain, exploring the park's history, and just enjoying the lake, the streams, and the hills.

Long after the Chickasaw were gone, white settlers also made their mark here as well, and those remnants too remain.  There is a lovely old settler's house, perfectly preserved on the property.  You will also find a 70 year old swinging suspension bridge, which tenuously stretches it's rusty string of cables across Bear Creek.