Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Shoot out at Austin
In 1879, Tunica County was still in a state of unrest after the murder of Sheriff M.J. Manning. Nerves were on edge when a series of events took place which made things even more stressful. This latest incident started down in southern Tunica County at the small settlement of Slab Town, which later became Dubbs.…
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Cypress Corner Barbecue – Marianna
Cypress Corner Barbecue is a quaint little out of the way place with really good food located between Marianna and Barton, Arkansas. Like many places in the Mid South, if you are looking for good food, follow the trucks and farmers. They will find it. There isn’t much else around the restaurant, but it’s worth…
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Missing Historical Marker
As a little boy, I grew up passing this historical marker. It was located, well is located, on the line between Tunica and Coahoma counties in North Mississippi. Just north of it was Lula Moat Gin which is pictured behind the marker. At one time this thriving business employed over twenty people. Both are gone…
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Colonel Willliam F. Wood
William Francis Wood was born March 23, 1826 in Ireland. As many people did during this time he eventually traveled to America to start a new life. He soon married and was living in Indiana when the Civil War began. He joined the First Indiana Cavalry as chaplain on August 18, 1861. Wood was then…
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Engagement at Brown’s Gin
On August 11, 1862 a brief but deadly battle took place on the line between Tunica and Coahoma counties in Northwest Mississippi. Company A of the 47th Indiana Infantry consisting of forty five men and thirteen cavalry were attacked by an unknown number of Confederates at Brown’s Gin. The Union soldiers were under the command…
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Battle of Hunt’s Mill
The Yazoo Pass is a small and winding stream that connects Moon Lake to the Coldwater River. After the Mississippi Delta was opened to settlement in the late 1830s, thousands of families moved in to start a new life farming. Because Tunica and Coahoma counties were located in the northern section of the delta, many…
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Aaron Forrest
Aaron Forrest was born April 8, 1863 in Bedford County, Tennessee. He was a younger brother of Nathan Bedford Forrest. For awhile, he and his older brother were involved in a slave trading business at Memphis. Still in this trade Forrest moved to Vicksburg around 1858. When the Civil War started he joined a company…
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Yazoo Pass Expedition
In early 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant decided to try another method of getting around the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg. This time, he would attempt to send a combined army and navy group into the Yazoo River located above the Mississippi city. To do this, they would have to navigate a series of streams…
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Big Jack Johnson
Big Jack Johnson played his juke joint style guitar music all over the world, but always remembered where home was. From Helena to Clarksdale he played the festivals and the clubs. Featured as a member of the Jelly Roll Kings or on his own as the Oil Man, he was a bluesman. Image courtesy of:…
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Charley Patton
Charley Patton, known as Father of the Delta Blues, was born near Bolton in southern Mississippi in 1891. Charley and his family relocated to the delta around 1900 to the area around Dockery Farms in Bolivar County. Although his family worked on the farm, Charley never did much of that type of labor. He focused…
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My Delta World 