In the early 1800s, travelers heading north from Natchez carried money earned along the Mississippi River into long stretches of isolated country. Some men saw an opportunity.
In Part Two of The Devil’s Road, the October series from Southern Mysteries, we follow two notorious land pirates whose stories became connected with the Natchez Trace: Samuel Mason and Joseph Thompson Hare.
Mason was pursued by territorial authorities across the Mississippi Valley, leaving behind accusations of robbery, violence and a strange mystery surrounding his death. Years later, Hare described his own life as a highway robber, including how he searched the roads for travelers carrying money and the unsettling encounter he later remembered as a warning.
Their stories reveal what made the early Natchez Trace dangerous and how robbery along the road helped shape its darker reputation.
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Episode Sources
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Samuel Mason Trial Records, Z/0273.000, 1803.
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History. English translation of the Samuel Mason Trial Records, Z/0273.000.
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Territorial Records, Administration Papers, records concerning Samuel Mason and his accomplices, 1803–1804.
- Claiborne, William C. C. Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne, correspondence concerning Samuel Mason, highway robbery, the Mississippi River and roads between the Mississippi Territory and Tennessee, 1802–1804.
- Claiborne, William C. C. Letter to James Madison concerning Samuel Mason, robberies and protection of travelers, July 1803.
- Vidal, Nicholas Maria. Correspondence to Governor William C. C. Claiborne concerning Samuel Mason and his accomplices, their prosecution by Spanish authorities and transfer to American custody, 1803.
- Rothert, Otto A. The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock: Historical Accounts of the Famous Highwaymen and River Pirates Who Operated in Pioneer Days upon the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and over the Natchez Trace.
- Hare, Joseph Thompson. Dying Confession of Joseph Hare, Alias Joseph T. Hare, One of the Mail Robbers. 1818.
- Hare, Joseph Thompson. The Life and Dying Confession of Joseph T. Hare: The Noted Robber Who Was Executed at Baltimore in September Last for Robbing the Mail. 1818.
- United States v. Hare, Circuit Court, District of Maryland, May 1818.
- Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser. “Joseph Thompson Hare,” September 19, 1818.
- Daily National Intelligencer. Report of the executions of Joseph Thompson Hare and John Alexander, September 14, 1818.
- National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. Historical interpretation of the Old Natchez Trace, early travel and transportation.
- National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. Historical interpretation concerning boatmen, travelers and the development of the Natchez Trace.
- Tennessee Encyclopedia. “Natchez Trace.”
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Territorial records concerning highway robbery, piracy and law enforcement in the Mississippi Territory during the early nineteenth century.
Episode Music
Out of the Mines and Burial Grounds, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.