TUPELO – The Tombigbee Pioneer Group will demonstrate pioneer-era crafts and skills at the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2015. The presentations will show the challenges faced and creative solutions developed by those Americans who lived in the area from the 1700s to 1840.
The public is invited to watch pioneer lifestyle activities that often include basket-making, spinning, weaving, knitting, and other traditional craft demonstrations. Leather-working and mountain dulcimer demonstrations are usually offered throughout the day. Children are invited to participate by dressing up in pioneer clothes and trying these activities firsthand.
Public Historian Brian Mast, from the Black Belt Museum at the University of West
Brian Mast
Alabama, will also be at the visitor center at 10:00 a.m. to present a 45-minute Junior Ranger program entitled “We Want YOU for the French Marines!” Following the program, at 1:00 p.m., Mast will share his knowledge of the time period with visitors of all ages through a display of French Marine equipment.
Junior Rangers will experience life as a French Marine who was part of the 1736 campaign near modern-day Tupelo. The children will be transformed into French Marine recruits as they learn about the life of a soldier in the 18th century. Recruits will then be outfitted for campaign and taught the same 
drill as the French Marines, marching in lines and “firing” wooden muskets. Junior Ranger programs, which cover different topics, are presented most Saturdays in June and July. Although these programs are most appropriate for children aged 7-12, all ages are welcome.
All programs are free to the public. The Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center is located at milepost 266 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, near Tupelo, Mississippi. For additional information, please call 662-680-4027 or 1-800-305-7417.
MEDIA RELEASE/Office of the Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway
