Bearded Spaniards in rusted armor followed De Soto across Mississippi in search of gold 80 years before the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts. De Soto died in the fruitless search. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, established Mississippi's first permanent settlement near Biloxi in 1699. There was no gold to be found, but the mighty Mississippi River had created something of infinitely greater value—an immense valley of rich, productive land on which cotton could be grown. Cotton established the great plantations, but while cotton still ranks first in agricultural production, the state also produces forestry, poultry, soybeans, and catfish. However, manufacturing is the number-one industry in the state.

Andrew Jackson became a hero in Mississippi after he defeated the Creek Indian nation and was again honored during a triumphal return through the state after winning the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Mississippians enthusiastically named their capital after "Old Hickory," and they entertained him royally when he returned as an elder statesman in 1840.

For two years, northern Mississippi was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the Civil War. Following the Union defeat of Confederate forces at the Battle of Shiloh (Tennessee) in April 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant moved southwest into Mississippi. The following year, Grant besieged Vicksburg for 47 days. When the city finally fell, the fate of the Confederacy, according to some historians, was sealed. Yet battles still seesawed across and up and down the beleaguered state as railroads and telegraph lines were sliced by northern raiders. Mississippi was left in shambles. It was after General William Tecumseh Sherman burned Jackson that he said, "War is Hell!" For Mississippi, the war was indeed hell, and the Reconstruction period was nearly as chaotic.

Today, Mississippi's subtropical Gulf Coast provides vast quantities of shrimp and oysters; it is also a tremendously popular resort and vacation area. Fishing is good in many streams; hunting for waterfowl along the Mississippi River and for deer in other areas is also excellent. The state has beautiful forests, the antebellum traditions and pageantry of Natchez, the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway, and many other attractions.