Moonlight on the Mississippi

History

In the winter of 1540 Hernando de Soto led a large expedition into Mississippi and wintered along the Pontotoc River. In the following spring he reached the Mississippi River, but, because he found no gold or silver in the region, Spanish explorers directed their efforts elsewhere.

Nearly 130 years later a small group of French Canadians sailed down the Mississippi River and immediately realized its commercial and strategic importance. In 1699 a French expedition led by Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville established France's claim to the lower Mississippi valley. French settlements were soon established at Fort Maurepas, Mobile, Biloxi, Fort Rosalie, and New Orleans.

Following the French and Indian War, which ended in 1763, France ceded its possessions in the lower Mississippi valley, except New Orleans, to Great Britain, which also gained possession of Spanish Florida and divided that territory into two colonies. One of those was West Florida, which included the area between the Apalachicola and Mississippi rivers. The original northern boundary of West Florida was the 31 parallel, but it was extended in 1764 to the 3228' parallel. Fort Rosalie was renamed Fort Panmure, and the Natchez District was established as a subdivision of West Florida. Natchez flourished during the early 1770s. After the outbreak of the U.S. War of Independence, Spain regained possession of Florida and occupied Natchez. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 fixed the 31 parallel as the boundary between Spanish Florida and the United States, but Spain continued to occupy Natchez until the dispute was settled in 1798.

The original Mississippi Territory created by the U.S. Congress in1798 was a strip of land extending about 100 miles north to south and from the Mississippi River to the Chattahoochee on the Georgia border. The territory was increased in 1804 and 1812 to reach from Tennessee to the Gulf.

On December 10th, 1817 the western part achieved statehood as Mississippi (the eastern part became the state of Alabama in 1819). Natchez, the first territorial capital, was replaced in 1802 by nearby Washington, which in turn was replaced by Jackson as the Capital City in 1822.

~ Interesting Facts ~

	Nickname: "The Magnolia State" The “Magnolia State” is named because of the abundance of magnolia flowers and trees in the state.
	The Flag: The committee to design a State Flag was appointed by legislative action February 7, 1894, and provided that the flag reported by the committee should become the official flag. The committee recommended for the flag "one with width two-thirds of its length; with the union square, in width two-thirds of the width of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and a broad blue saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen (13) mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding with the number of the original States of the Union; the field to be divided into three bars of equal width, the upper one blue, the center one white, and the lower one extending the whole length of the flag.
	State Bird: Mockingbird
	Agriculture: Cotton, poultry, cattle, catfish, soybeans, rice
	Flower: Magnolia An election was held in November 1900 to select a State Flower. Votes were submitted by 23,278 school children. The magnolia received 12,745 votes; the cotton blossom 4,171; and the cape jasmine 2,484. There were a few votes for other flowers. The magnolia was officially designated as the State Flower by the 1952 Legislature. In 1935, the Director of Forestry started a movement by which to select a State Tree for Mississippi, to be selected by nomination and election by the school children of the State. Four nominations were made--the magnolia, oak, pine and dogwood. The magnolia received by far the largest majority.
	Tree: Southern Magnolia On April 1, 1938, the Mississippi Legislature officially designated the magnolia as the State Tree.
	Motto: "Virtute et armis" meaning By Valor and Arms
	Song: "Go Mis-sis-sip-pi"
	State Land Mammal: White Tailed Deer
	Origin of the Name Mississippi: From the Chippewa Indian words "mici zibi" meaning "Great River" or "Gathering of Waters".
	Highest Point in Mississippi: 806 ft. - Woodall Mountain Lowest Point: Sea Level along the Gulf of Mexico
	State Fish: Largemouth or "Black" Bass
	State Insect: The Honey Bee
	State Shell: The Oyster
	State Water Mammal: Bottlenose Dolphin or Porpoise
	Waterfowl: The Wood Duck
	Famous Mississippians: Red Barber sportscaster, Columbus Lance Bass singer, Laurel Theodore Bilbo public official, Poplarville Jimmy Buffett singer, songwriter, Pascagoula Craig Claiborne columnist, restaurant critic, Sunflower Bo Diddley guitarist, McCombs Charles Evers civil rights leader, Decatur Medgar Evers civil rights leader, Decatur Brett Farve football, Kiln William Cuthbert Faulkner author, New Albany Shelby Foote historian, Greenville Richard Ford author, Jackson Barry Hannah author, Clinton Elizabeth Lee Hazen inventor, Beth Henley playwright, actress, Jackson Jim Henson puppeteer, Greenville Faith Hill singer, Jackson James Earl Jones entertainer, Arkabutla Simbi Khali actress, Jackson B. B. King guitarist, Itta Bena Willie Morris writer, Jackson Brandy Norwood singer,actress, McComb Walter Payton football player, Columbia Elvis Presley singer, actor, Tupelo Charley Pride country singer, Sledge Leontyne Price soprano, Laurel William Raspberry columnist, Oklaona Jerry Rice football player, Starkville LeAnn Rimes country music, Jackson William Grant Still composer, Woodville Conway Twitty country music, Friars Point Sela Ward actress, Meridian Muddy Waters singer, guitarist, Rolling Fork Eudora Welty author, Jackson Tennessee Williams playwright, Columbus Oprah Winfrey talk-show host, Kosciusko Richard Wright author, Natchez Tammy Wynette country music star, Tupelo The most famous "Mississippian" of all
	Here's some really interesting information! ~ Check out 50 Fast Facts About Mississippi

I hope you'e enjoyed learning a little about my home state of Mississippi. Y'all come back soon to learn about my home town of Long Beach on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico!

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