Settling the Mississippi Territory: The Origin of Two States

The Territory That Built Two States

The Mississippi Territory existed as a political entity for nearly two decades. It stretched from the Tennessee border southward to the Gulf of Mexico and was bounded on the east by the state of Georgia and the west by the mighty Mississippi River. This enormous swath of America's southwestern frontier in 1817 was divided into the state of Mississippi and the Alabama Territory. Two years later, Alabama entered the Union as a state. Between 1798 and 1817, the territory transitioned from a sparsely inhabited backwoods frontier to a thriving and dynamic centerpiece in one of the fastest-developing regions of the country. Mike Bunn and Clay Williams chronicle that story in a richly illustrated introduction and guide to discovery of this pivotal era.