Twelve Years a Slave, 165 Years Free

Sponsored by Alexandria/Pineville Area Convention and VIsitor's Bureau

In 1841, Solomon Northup had his whole life in New York—a wife, three children, a reputation as an excellent fiddle player. Then, in a harrowing twist, that life was snatched from him. Deceived, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, Northup found his old life as a free man of color replaced by his new existence as a Louisiana slave. Fortunately, his story did not end there. After over a decade, he was able to resume his life in the North, though obviously his experiences never left him. His memoir Twelve Years a Slave, recently adapted into an Oscar-winning film, shares these trials and travails in a frank and fascinating account. Northup left physical traces on Louisiana as well; those in the center of the state can follow his narrative over land, as well as on paper, through the Northup Trail.

The Northup Trail cuts through Central Louisiana, spanning two parishes, 91 miles, and twelve years of Solomon Northup’s life. Many historical sites and other stops of interest from Northup’s story and beyond lie along this designated Louisiana Scenic Byway as it meanders from Alexandria to Marksville. Travelers can take in everything from once-sprawling plantations where he lived and worked to the humble postbox where a life-changing letter was mailed, building an understanding of this time by exploring the route with their own senses. This type of education is thanks in large part to efforts from preservationists and researchers like Dr. Sue Eakin, who dug up firm historical foundations to support the information in Northup’s memoir.

Solomon Northup published his now-famous memoir shortly after his return to New York. However, after the furor of its initial reception, the work largely faded from the public consciousness for some decades. Then in 1931 a twelve-year-old girl picked up Northup’s book and saw her home country of Central Louisiana through his eyes. That girl, who would become Dr. Sue Eakin, made it her life’s work to research the story, annotating and preserving it while tying it to the land around her. Her 1968 edition of the work mapped out the basis of the Trail, providing invaluable insights and rekindling interest for both locals and visitors. Now Eakin's story is part of the Trail's as well.

The Northup Trail tells a fascinating story that attracts history buffs and humanists alike. While it presents the harsh realities of slavery, it also honors the triumph of an unbreakable human spirit. Northup writes in his memoir: “I don’t want to survive, I want to live.” And so he did. Additionally, the Trail outlines lessons on day-to-day life in that era, exploring the physical structures where actual people of the time both toiled and dreamed. The 2013 motion picture, while poignant, missed out on using the actual locations where the 19th century action took place, but the Trail invites visitors to get a sense of the actual setting, deepening the connection between viewer and scene.

“It’s an ongoing story; that’s the amazing thing,” says Wilbert Carmouche of the Avoyelles Commission of Tourism. “It didn’t die with Solomon Northup, or with Dr. Eakin. It’s a story that keeps telling itself, keeps going, and we get to share it.”

In the end, Carmouche points out, the Northup Trail leads to freedom, though that path is hard-won. Northup, whose true identity remained concealed throughout his enslavement, enlists the help of Canadian abolitionist Samuel Bass, who finally manages to retrieve proof of his status. His bitter slave owner Edwin Epps was reluctant, but in the end signed the papers relinquishing all claim to him. On January 4, 1853, Solomon Northup was again recognized as a free man.

165 years to the day later, Northup Freedom Day 2018 will celebrate the anniversary of that recognition. January 4 will bring a host of activities commemorating Solomon Northup’s story, including a coach ride embarking from Alexandria down a section of the Northup Trail, an exhibit by a local photographer, and musical entertainment. The day culminates in the unveiling of a new historical marker dedicated by Northup’s descendants and local officiants at the site of the courthouse in Marksville where the papers were signed. The public is invited to a reception at Bailey’s on the Square,  in a building which once housed the offices of the judge who signed the documents. And of course, visitors from near and far are always invited to tour the Northup Trail and walk the path of an important historical human drama.