Chapter 25 Food Desert, Fort Pillow, Entering Memphis

Even though I am within shooting distance of Memphis this is some of the most remote and sparsely populated sections of the MRT.  My original plan of eating at convenience stores and little cafes along the way is starting show some flaws. One day I pass absolutely nothing all day and end up camping along the highway in a soybean field.  Fortunately, I had purchased some reserve rations the day before at what was billed as a grocery store in the guidebook but was pretty bare.  I bought the last can of beanless chili on the shelf.  While it did sustain life, I was wondering what those soybeans in the field would taste like if added to the chili.
Despite my mechanical troubles I decided to take a side trip to Ft. Pillow State Park and spend the night.

Fort Pillow State Park architect designed toilets.

No picnicing on these grounds.

 It is a 18 mile round trip and takes me past a Tennessee State Prison which is rather ominous. The road cuts through prison property for at least a mile. Warning signs everywhere.  Do not set foot off the road.  The prison itself is a complex of guard towers, light poles, shining silver chain link and barbed wire that screens barely visible buildings.  It is surrounded by a 500 yard no man's land.
I thought of that kid I met who spent 7 years of his life in one of these.

Reconstructed breastworks at Fort Pillow

While this place is designed to keep people in, Fort Pillow was designed to keep people out.  It is another confederate fortress on the banks of the Mississippi intended to block Union boat traffic.  The fort as originally built consisted of 5 miles of perimeter protective earthworks for a garrision of 20,000 men.  I
t was too large defend and never manned.  They ended up building a smaller set of fortifications within.  It fell to the Union anyhow.  More significantly, late in the war this fort became notorious for what was later called a massacre by the north.  It had been manned by a Union garrision consisting of  newly formed colored troops and white troops. The Confederates returned and overwhelmed the garrison in a raid. Nearly all the colored troops (which were despised by the south) were killed.  Most of the white troops survived being taken prisoner.  Even then it was called a needless race driven massacre giving impetus to a "Remember Fort pillow" slogan for the black Union troops thereafter.  Interestingly, the Confederate general responsible, Nathan Forrest, remains a controversial figure in local history, revered by some and decried by others. I later saw his statue is in a park in Memphis but it has recently been renamed from "Forrest Park" to the rather strange name of "Health Sciences" park.

I finally limped into Memphis with the rear sprocket hanging on for the 99 miles.  The MRT actually takes a really nice route into Memphis.  I expected having to traverse miles of suburbs, strip centers and busy arterials before I can get anywhere close to Downtown.  But it follows a corridor of green somehow avoiding the suburbs and drops you at the end of a riverfront park with a bike path the rest of the way right into the City Center. I spent the night camped behind a river levee just outside the park which seemed fine until I discovered my location aligns with the end of a nearby commuter airport runway when the first flight roared overhead.  Didn't sleep too well.