Loess Hills of the Lower Mississippi Valley

OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

FIRST OF ALL...

THE LOESS HILLS...

Bee holes in loess bluff near Natchez

Loess, such as that shown in the bluff at the right (notice the interesting bee-tunnels... ), is composed of tiny mineral particles with very specific characteristics
A sharp scientist decided that snails were telling us loess's story
Despite the clear message from the snails, for a long time the debate continued over where loess comes from
Why is our loess located where it is?
The age of our loess has been determined, thanks to 14C and... snails

Molars of American Mastodon found by Lonnie & Freida Looper in gravel bars along the Mississippi River, near Glen Allen, Mississippi

What's the story of the sand and gravel below our loess?
What if we dug a hole through all the loess, sand and gravel, and kept on going for thousands of feet deeper?
Sometimes, in the rocks below the loess, sand and gravel, there's a whale of a story

The first humans to reach the Lower Mississippi Valley's Loess Hills left little evidence of themselves, but over time a rich mosaic of diverse indigenous cultures formed here.

Natchez warrior, unknown artist; image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution, National Anthropological Archives

The first Europeans to visit the Loess Hills was a roving band of Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernando de Soto
One tribe still maintaining many of its old traditions when European settlers began arriving was the Natchez Nation
Conflict between the French and English pitted Indian nation against Indian nation, and sped the Indian demise.
A few hundred Chickasaws were the last indigenous Americans to live on their ancestral homes in our Loess Hills