"The parkway commemorating the Natchez Trace is a star in the crown of human endeavors. It is a tool of instruction our country can turn to often to gain understanding. There have been many rewards along this journey, a journey that's as much about this country's future as it has been about the past. It offers us time to reflect and realize that the same progress that brought Europeans on board ships to the new lands of the Americas and prompted a new nation to seek convenience along the road to its Natchez frontier, those hopeful steps also drove an ancient people from their homelands.

"And today, we construct mammoth projects, which flow with hope for a grand future, bringing commerce and change to what once seemed a near boundless, flourishing wilderness -- exchanging the order of nature for the order of man.

"The Natchez Trace offers us a picture of change encapsulated within a 450 mile journey through history. It's hopeful, beautiful and at times filled with horror and tragedy.

"You can study it. You can listen to its myriad tales, but nothing compares with a first hand journey up the Trace. So, if you get the chance, I invite you to visit this grand parkway and add your footsteps along "one of the oldest roads in the world," a road through the wilderness.

"I'm Frank Thomas. Thank you for joining me."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com