MISSISSIPPI, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a horizontally striped blue-white-red field (background) with the Confederate Battle Flag in the canton. Part of what is today the state of Mississippi was included in the West Florida Republic, which was proclaimed in 1810 by American settlers in opposition to Spanish rule. Their flag had a blue background with a single white star in the centre. (A similar design was used in the 1830s by pro-independence Americans in Texas.) It was hoisted on January 9, 1861, when Mississippi passed its Ordinance of Secession prior to joining the Confederate States of America. The blue-and-white flag became known throughout the South as the Bonnie Blue Flag. On January 26, 1861, Mississippi adopted the Magnolia Flag, featuring the native tree on a white field; the canton was blue with a central white star, thus incorporating the Bonnie Blue design. The Magnolia Flag seems not to have been used after the end of the Civil War; however, the magnolia was designated the official state tree in 1938. A new state constitution was adopted in 1890; it was the product of a white majority that wished to minimize the influence in state affairs of local blacks and of the federal government. As a symbol of the redemption of the whites' power, in February 1894 the legislature adopted the state flag that is still in existence. Probably created by Senator E.N. Scudder, the flag has three horizontal stripes that recall the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy, while its canton is the Confederate Battle Flag. The separation of the canton from the blue and red stripes by a white fimbriation (narrow border) was confirmed by gubernatorial decree in 1996. Whitney Smith History The Indians The Indians of Mississippi lived in harmony with the environment of the Southern woodlands and took great care to maintain the ecological balance they found in nature. Early European travelers often spoke of the Indians' love for the land and their bravery in defending it. The Choctaw tribe, which numbered approximately 20,000 and was located primarily in the southern and central part of the state, was the largest of the three major tribes that lived in present-day Mississippi. The other two tribes were the Natchez, which numbered about 4,500 and were centred in southwestern Mississippi, and the Chickasaw, which had a population of about 5,000 and ranged from their principal villages in the northeastern part of the state into Tennessee and Kentucky. The Natchez were virtually exterminated during a war with the French garrison at Fort Rosalie (the present city of Natchez) in 172931. The Choctaw and Chickasaw were eventually removed from Mississippi to the Oklahoma territory in the 1830s. Exploration and settlement In the winter of 1540 Hernando de Soto led a large expedition into Mississippi and wintered along the Pontotoc River. In the following spring he reached the Mississippi River, but, because he found no gold or silver in the region, Spanish explorers directed their efforts elsewhere. Nearly 130 years later a small group of French Canadians sailed down the Mississippi River and immediately realized its commercial and strategic importance. In 1699 a French expedition led by Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville established France's claim to the lower Mississippi valley. French settlements were soon established at Fort Maurepas, Mobile, Biloxi, Fort Rosalie, and New Orleans. Following the French and Indian War, which ended in 1763, France ceded its possessions in the lower Mississippi valley, except New Orleans, to Great Britain, which also gained possession of Spanish Florida and divided that territory into two colonies. One of those was West Florida, which included the area between the Apalachicola and Mississippi rivers. The original northern boundary of West Florida was the 31 parallel, but it was extended in 1764 to the 3228 parallel. Fort Rosalie was renamed Fort Panmure, and the Natchez District was established as a subdivision of West Florida. Natchez flourished during the early 1770s. After the outbreak of the U.S. War of Independence, Spain regained possession of Florida and occupied Natchez. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 fixed the 31 parallel as the boundary between Spanish Florida and the United States, but Spain continued to occupy Natchez until the dispute was settled in 1798.