NATCHEZ, Mississippi – A pedestrian bridge on the Natchez Bluff Trail in Bluff Park gives walkers a better than bird’s-eye view of a powerful towboat pushing a string of barges up the Mississippi River. That’s Louisiana on the other side. Walks on the trail are especially pretty at sunset. Part of the trail passes several Victorian homes, which were built almost two centuries after Natchez was founded. The settlement started in 1716 at the river landing below a towering bluff. Genteel Natchez evolved on the bluff, while the riverfront became known as Natchez-Under-the-Hill. In settlement days and beyond, Natchez-Under-the-Hill was a rough area that the Mississippi Encyclopedia says “was notorious for lawlessness, debauchery and violence.” Things are decidedly calmer now, although you still can get a beer and a water-level perspective on Old Man River. Remember that if you walk down the bluff, it’s a longer walk back to the top. (Photo by Tom Adkinson)