Under the hill.

Today we visited Natchez, Mississippi and walked down the bluffs to the old port on the river.  It was established in the late 1700's by the Spanish and was a major port for 200 years.  For much of that time, it was for shipping cotton grown in the area and the importing of slaves until the end of the Civil war. At some point several bars and brothels were built.  It was one of the most notorious areas on the Mississippi and called "Under the hill".
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At its prime hundreds of steamboats regularly traveled the Mississippi.  Now they are almost exclusively cruise ships but a lot more expensive than the ones that travel the ocean.

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One of the events was in 1827 when Jim Bowie participated in a duel. Both missed but in the bar fight that followed two men were killed and four wounded. Bowie was stabbed and shot twice in the fight and managed to kill one and injured another with his knife later known as a Bowie.

We had a great lunch at a The Camp restaurant and watched the barges being moved up and down river.  There were also two paddle wheelers docked there waiting for their passengers to come back from touring the city above.  Before we left one pulled out and headed down river.