Highway 61 North: Gateway to the Mississippi Delta

Yesterday afternoon was so pretty I decided to take a short ride from Vicksburg, up Highway 61 North towards the Mississippi Delta.

Highway 61 North is also known as the "Blues Highway," because it runs through the Mississippi Delta country, which was an important source of blues music. US 61 has been referenced in music by various artists with roots in the region.

As you leave the hills of Vicksburg, you will see miles and miles of flat fertile lands stretching out in some places as far as the eye can see. I took this picture at Rolling Fork, Mississippi (about 45 miles north of Vicksburg), to give you an idea of the vastness of the Delta farmlands ...

Huge tractors like this one churning up the rich Delta soil are a common sight this time of year ...

It was around 1:30 p.m. when I left Vicksburg, so I didn't go any farther than Rolling Fork, but there are several little towns in between which I found interesting.

The first little town I encountered was Valley Park, which has a tiny little post office ...

Valley Park is also home to a railroad aficionado and I captured these pictures of his railroad memorabilia, which included this wooden caboose mailbox ...

I love cabooses and sometimes wonder if I am the only person who misses seeing a caboose at the end of a train. It's like a sentence without a period ... or an "i" without a dot over it -- a train should have a caboose!

And bless his heart, this guy not only has a caboose but part of a train to go with it! (If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see an old tire swing hanging from the oak tree) ...

Can't you just imagine what fun his children or grandchildren have playing on all that stuff! He even had a miniature train in the building to the right of the caboose, but I couldn't get close enough to get pictures of it.

The next little town ("little" being the keyword) was Onward, which became well known because President Theodore Roosevelt's famous bear hunt was held close to there in 1902. The old Onward Store is known for its hot tamales and hot bologna sandwiches, but I didn't sample either.

A historical marker next to the general store in Onward tells about the bear hunt ...

As the story goes, Roosevelt's hunting guide was a famous Mississippi bear hunter named Holt Collier. This hunt was a late birthday gift for President Roosevelt from his friends. According to the story, Collier, in an effort to make the hunt a success, went out early on Friday, November 14, 1902 to scout for bears. Luck was with Collier and he trapped and tied up a 235-pound black bear. Collier sent his hunting friends to get Roosevelt for the kill.

When Roosevelt arrived, he refused to kill a tied-up bear and the bear hunt was stopped. Local and national newspapers began to run political cartoons about the President refusing to kill the bear. The Cracker Jack Company and toy companies created stuffed bears which were called "teddy bears." Interesting, huh?

Cary is the next community between Valley Park and Rolling Fork, and these three crosses caught my eye ...

I love seeing these along the highways across the country and plan to write a post about them someday. There is an interesting story behind them, too.

My next stop was Rolling Fork, where visitors are greeted by this welcoming sight ...

It seems that bears are a popular subject in this part of the Delta, because there were bear "monuments" all over Rolling Fork ...

I also passed this highway sign cautioning about bear crossings ...

I was hoping I would see one, but I guess they're still hibernating for the winter.

One of Rolling Fork's claims to fame is the fact that renown Blues musician Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork ...

This bottle tree in a residential area caught my eye as I passed by ...

I enjoyed my afternoon drive up Highway 61, and hope to go back someday and visit more of the sleepy little Delta towns along its route. I love exploring them, because you just never know what wonderful stories and sights await you in "Small Towns, America."