NATCHEZ &045; &uot;You are standing at Forks of the Road.&uot;

That simple statement can’t begin to convey the horrors its human chattel experienced at Natchez’s 19th century slave market site, but it does finally begin to tell the full history of what happened there.

And on Saturday, members of the Friends of the Forks of the Road Society gathered to pay tribute to their ancestors and mark the opening of a new exhibit on the site.

&uot;It is a great day,&uot; said Ser Sesh Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley, who has been working for years to get an interpretive exhibit at the site.

&uot;This is just the beginning. We all have lots of work to do to have the Forks story well told and completely told.&uot;

In 2003, the City of Natchez bought three lots making up the Forks of the Road site at the intersection of St. Catherine Street and Liberty Road.

Grant money also paid for the exhibits, which were designed by Cavett Taff, written by Jim Barnett of the Department of Archives and History and approved by a committee of citizens and historians.

The recognition of the site is unique, in that there is no longer anything physical to restore.

But Boxley said during a libation &045; or purification &045; ceremony Saturday that preservationists did not need bricks and mortar to recognize what happened there.

&uot;We know the spirits of the ancestors have been at the Forks of the Road,&uot; Boxley said. &uot;They have been waiting for this day to allow their humanity to be recognized.&uot;

The Friends of the Forks of the Road and city officials hope the site becomes an important part of the tourism industry in Natchez, one that appeals to the niche &uot;heritage tourism&uot; visitors.

Some visitors to the site Saturday said the simple recognition of what happened there was a big step.

Willie J. Drew, who grew up in Natchez, moved away and moved back about five years ago, said reading the brief history on the exhibit is much more African-American history than he ever got in school.

&uot;I think it is a good thing for blacks and whites to know the history of each other,&uot; he said. &uot;It might be distasteful, but this is where you mend things.&uot;

Drew actually grew up not far from the Forks of the Road site, but he does not remember knowing any of the history of what happened there.

Charles Wright, though, who also grew up near the Forks, recalls hearing stories passed down from his parents and grandparents.

Wright even had three relatives who had escaped slavery and came to the site after the Union Army occupied Natchez. Many slaves came to the Forks site to camp and joined the Army.

&uot;It’s amazing how we end up back here,&uot; Wright said.

&uot;I used to hear my mother talk about how there were slave quarters here.&uot;

But Wright said it is difficult to imagine what his ancestors experienced on the site.

&uot;The pain those people suffered &045; I don’t think I can define that,&uot; he said. &uot;Sometimes there was so much pain even our elders wouldn’t talk about it. Š I have so much respect for my elders who were able to live like that.&uot;

Despite the painful history, Wright said it is important to tell the story of what happened.

&uot;This is awesome,&uot; he said, pointing to the free-standing exhibit where visitors stopped to read the text and look at the photos and drawings. &uot;We can get some of the history out. We can represent the past and the direction that we’re going.&uot;