Exhibition Reviews

Thomas J. Schlereth

Contributing Editor Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/86/1/167/722954 by guest on 27 September 2021

"1811-Year of Wonders in the Territory." Old Capitol Museum, Mis­ sissippi Department of Archives and History, 100 S. State St., Jackson, MS 39205. Temporary exhibition, May 14, 1998-Nov. 16, 1998. Donna Dye, director; Cavett Taff, curator; John Gardner and Tara Bond, assistant curators; Mary Lohrenz, collection curator; Nicole Maris, registrar.

The Congress created the Mississippi Territory in 1798. Instead of cel­ ebrating Mississippi's bicentennial with an exhibition that spanned its nineteen-year history prior to statehood, the staff of the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Missis­ sippi, chose to highlight one year. Sometimes referred to as the annus mirabilis in the American West, 1811 was marked by the Great Comet, the New Madrid earthquake, and the maiden voyage of the first steamboat on the . The curators decided that a focus on this particular slice of time would be a cleverway to make pa­ trons think about the significance of the Mississippi Territory. A massive impressionistic painting of the momentarily ruptured Mississippi River with a primitive steamboat tossed upon its bank in the foreground, a shattered log cabin in the background, and a symbolic comet in the sky called attention to the ex­ hibit opposite the main entrance to the Old Capitol. Above it hung the title banner: 1811-Year of Wonders in the Mississippi Territory. The Great Comet of 1811, the brightest comet to cross the sky in centuries, shone at its most luminous in October. The first of four major tremors of the earthquake that takes its name from New Madrid, Missouri, occurred on December 16; and the steamboat docked at Natchez, Mississippi, during its maiden voyage on December 30, 1811. The quake included two of the strongest tremors registered in the United States. It caused the Mississippi River to reverse its flow for a few minutes and rang church bells as far away as Boston. An island to which the New Orleans was moored disap­ peared overnight. The section entitled "The Territory Takes Shape" traces the growth of the Missis­ sippi Territory from a long strip, situated above the thirty-first parallel, that in 1798 connected the Mississippi River to the to the gigantic parcel that includes Mississippi and today. In 1804 Congress added to the terri­ tory the top half of this region, ceded in 1803 by to the federal government. Finally, in 1811 the territory gained the strip of land below the thirty-first parallel

The Journal ofAmerican History June 1999 167 168 The Journal ofAmerican History June 1999

that borders the in present-day Mississippi and Alabama. This land between the Pearl and the Perdido rivers became part of the newly proclaimed Re­ public ofWest , whose leaders declared independence from Spain and imme­ diately asked to join the United States, for a month before President James Madison issued a proclamation of annexation. In 1811 Congress attached it to the southern border of the MississippiTerritory. Occupation of Spanish west of the Perdido marks the only time that the United States has taken land from a foreign Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/86/1/167/722954 by guest on 27 September 2021 power without even the pretext of being officially at war. Unfortunately, curators failed to denote this fact. In 1811 there was an abortive attempt at statehood. The western half of the territory became the state of Mississippi in 1817, the eastern half the territory of Alabama, which became a state in 1819. Appropriately entitled "Westward Ho," the segment on migration traces the movement of pioneer families into the region in 1811, especiallyalong the big bend of the River in present-day Alabama. Curators correctly stress the impor­ tance of cattle raising to early settlers, an activity virtually ignored by students of southern history until recently. It is true that the Federal Road from Georgia was im­ proved and Gaines Trace was cut to connect the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers in 1811. While migration in the years just before the remained steady, it paled in comparison to the postwar flood of settlers into the territory, a fact not evi­ dent here because of the exhibition's theme. Because slavery grew rapidly throughout the entire territorial period, it was not difficult for the museum staff to find numerous illustrations of the inhumanity of that institution. While they presented accounts of experiences of specific slaves in 1811, perhaps the most moving slave narrative dealt with the chance recognition of Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima, the son of an African king, by Dr. John Coates Cox, who had earlier visited Ibrahimas family in Africa. Subsequently known as the Black Prince, Ibrahima eventually was freed and returned to his native land. Though the well-documented "Flush Times" did not hit the until the following two decades, economic developments in 1811 were illustrated in the section entitled "Prosperity Puffing around the Bend." Here the curators reintroduced steamboats, emphasized the opening of the Bank of Mississippi, and hailed the com­ pletion of the first "big house" with columns, designed by the first trained architect in the territory, LeviWeeks. Interestingly, curators included the opening ofJefferson Col­ lege in Washington, the territorial capital five miles northeast of Natchez. One won­ ders the extent to which the founders of the territory's first college, which remained open until the 1950s, viewed the institution as a spur to economic development. While they were not located next to each other, two of the exhibition's ten display cases related primarily to American Indians. The case featuring the Shawnee chief Tecumseh'svisit to the territory in 1811 highlighted his effort to enlist the southeast­ ern tribes in his confederation. Only one faction of the Creeks, known as the , answered Tecumseh's call. Their attacks on peaceful Creek villages caused a civilwar within that nation. This conflict broadened into the -related to, concurrent with, but separate from the War of 1812. Pushmataha, a chief famous for his opposition to Tecumseh and his participation in 's Exhibition Reviews 169

campaign against the Creeks, was the central character of this display. Books and paintings of Mississippi Indians also highlight the importance of stickball to Missis­ sippi Indians. "The Sovereign States within the Mississippi Territory" is the title of the other dis­ play dedicated to Indians who quickly recognized that government roads through their nations represented a source ofconflict. Two events relating to roads occurred in

1811. Indian agent Silas Dinsmoor moved his family to a site on the Natchez Trace Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/86/1/167/722954 by guest on 27 September 2021 within the Choctaw nation, and the Federal Road through the Creek nation from Georgia to- the Tombigbee settlements above Mobile was completed. Dinsmoor infu­ riated Andrew Jackson, a principal in a firm that traded slaves, by rigidly enforcing an 1802 law that required persons traveling with slaves through the Indian nations to have passports for their charges. The Dinsmoor-Jackson feud contributed to removal of one of the most dedicated and effective Indian agents ever.Also prominent in the casewas a portrait of Mosholatubbee, a Choctaw chiefwho in 1811 moved to the In­ dian Territory, where George Catlin sketched the portrait. Here also-to demon­ strate the importance of Indian trade-was an open stack of deerskins that were available for curious visitors to touch. Undoubtedly, the segment of the exhibition that had the most familiar ring with natives of the region dealt with "Spreading the Gospel of Horseback." It was in 1811 that the Methodist circuit rider William Winnans performed his first baptism in the territory. Winnans typified the "soul merchants" who rode their horses anywhere and everywherepioneers lived in the Old Southwest. Unlike most circuit riders, who rarely stayed long in one circuit, Winnans remained in Mississippi until his death in 1857. To this day, camp meetings are a staple in the religious diet of rural Mississippians. Because of the recent public interest in comets and earthquakes, 1811 was an ef­ fective hook on which to hang the exhibition celebrating the territorial bicentennial. When talk of a reactivation of the New Madrid fault was rampant just a few years ago, residents of the region scrambled to add earthquake insurance to their home­ owners' policies. Visually, the exhibition was highly appealing, with artwork of high quality. The imaginative signs and labels have an "earthquake crack" at the top to em­ phasize the 1811 theme, and the text is in concise but pleasing prose. Credits throughout the exhibition indicate that the curators relied on repositories and indi­ viduals across the nation for their research and artifacts. The limited space available for temporary exhibitions in the Old Capitol Museum, a division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, was utilized to its best advantage, providing room for crowd flow. Patrons who study the truly state-of-the-art permanent exhibi­ tion, "Mississippi-lS00-l800," with its challenging interpretations recognize that this is a museum of which Mississippians can be justly proud. While the casual visitor finds this exhibition a pleasing recreational experience, the history teacher searches in vain for a unifying theme or story line. If it were a book, one would ask, what is the thesis? Can one year, even an annus mirabilis, adequately reveal the significance of nearly a fifth of a century of territorial experience?The dif­ ficulty of using a slice of time as an adhesive to bind together historical experience was also seen in the lack of cohesiveness in some individual displays. Severalincluded 170 The Journal ofAmerican History June 1999

artifacts that, although interesting in themselves, were not complementary or com­ patible. Unfortunately, a few myths were perpetuated. The noted outlaw John Mur­ rell, for instance, did not terrorize the Natchez Trace as he did other areas. He was not born until 1806. By the time he was twenty, the trace was long past its days of heavy travel. On the other hand, one praises the curators for emphasizing that the South, despite the prevalence of slavery, was as much a frontier as any region. Nor do some major topics, particularly slavery and the American Indians, lend Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/86/1/167/722954 by guest on 27 September 2021 themselves to the 1811 theme. And the unit centered around Tecumseh lacks bal­ ance; the overall emphasis is on the . However, both the and Choctaws occupied much of present-day Mississippi and the Creeks occupied much of Alabama, not to mention a myriad of smaller tribes. Curators designed "1811-Year of Wonders in the Mississippi Territory" as a temporary celebration of the territorial bicentennial to appeal to the general public. Judging by the reaction of Mississippians and out-of-state visitors, they succeeded. The exhibition stood from May 14,1998, until November 16,1998, in the chamber originally occupied by the state supreme court.

John D. W. Guice University ofSouthern Mississippi Hattiesburg, Mississippi

"Amistad; A True Story of Freedom." Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth Sr., Hartford, CT 06105. Long-term exhibition, open Feb. 18, 1998. Tu-Su 12-5; adults $5, seniors $3, students over 18 $3, youth 6-17 $1, children under 6 free. 2,000 sq. ft. David M. Kahn, director; Kate Steinway; project director and curator; Andrea Rapacz, exhibi­ tion assistant; Threshold Studio, planning and design; City Stage Co. and VDA, sound and lighting. School classroom resources available. Internet: a summary of the exhibition that includes a timeline and information on people involved in the trial, http://www.hartnet.org/chs/

"On her deck were grouped ... the remnant of the Ethiop crew, some decked in the most fantastic manner in the silks and finery pilfered from the cargo, while others in a state of nudity, emaciated to mere skeletons, lay coiled upon the decks" (New Lon­ don Gazette and General Advertiser, Aug. 28, 1839). This arresting depiction of the slave ship Amistad's African voyagers, at once adorned and vulnerable, captures an es­ sence of the superb exhibition in which it appears, especially in the way that it con­ fers power upon contemporary observation. In 1839, the Portuguese slaver docked in Havana and unloaded her human cargo. But the short trip remaining, to transport some of the slaves to sugar planters on the nearby islands, ran afouL A violent mutiny of the slaves held on this ship followed. Two Spanish sailors were left alive. The Afri­ cans ordered them to navigate the ship toward Africa, but they instead subverted this