Today, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a peaceful road through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. But the old Trace was once known as the Devil’s Backbone, a dangerous route marked by robbery, murder and stories that became legend. In The Devil’s Road, a four-part October series, Southern Mysteries explores the darker history and folklore of the Natchez Trace. Part One begins at ancient Native American mound sites along the route and at Pharr Mounds in northern Mississippi, where a brutal murder in 1992 brought a much more recent story to this ancient landscape.

Join the Community on Patreon:

Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries

Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists.

📱 Follow on Social Media:

Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “History & Culture.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “American Indian Mounds Along the Natchez Trace Parkway.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Pharr Mounds, Milepost 286.7.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Bynum Mounds, Milepost 232.4.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Emerald Mound.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Historic Places.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Old Natchez Trace Sections.”
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Trade From Afar,” Pharr Mounds interpretive exhibit and transcript.
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. “Objects and Ideas,” Pharr Mounds interpretive exhibit and transcript.
• National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. Natchez Trace mound-site interpretive exhibits and archaeological timeline.
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. United States of America v. Danny McGee, No. 93-7503, July 8, 1994.
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Federal proceedings arising from the murder of Thomas Alan Byram at Pharr Mounds.
• Tishomingo County News/The Vidette and Belmont News. “One Arrested in Murder of Iuka Man,” September 10, 1992.
• Tishomingo County News/The Vidette and Belmont News. Coverage of the federal indictments of Danny McGee and Greg Dingler, October 8, 1992.
• Tishomingo County News/The Vidette and Belmont News. Coverage of the upcoming federal murder trials and preliminary-hearing testimony, November 5, 1992.
• Tishomingo County News/The Vidette and Belmont News. Coverage of Danny McGee’s conviction and sentencing, 1993.
• Tishomingo County News/The Vidette and Belmont News. Coverage of Greg Dingler’s second-degree murder conviction, August 5, 1993.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines and Burial Grounds, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

In the early 1800s, travelers carrying money north from Natchez became targets for highway robbers along the isolated Natchez Trace.In Part Two of The Devil’s Road, Southern Mysteries follows Samuel Mason and Joseph Thompson Hare, two notorious land pirates whose robberies, violence and encounters with the law helped shape the road’s dangerous reputation. Mason’s story ends in mystery, while Hare’s own confession reveals how he preyed on unsuspecting travelers.

Join the Community on Patreon:

Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries

Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists.

📱 Follow on Social Media:

Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

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, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

In February 1972, Bryce, Virginia and Bobby Durham were found murdered in their Boone, North Carolina, home during a heavy snowstorm. Within months, four men were charged and two were eventually indicted for murder, but the case against them collapsed. Nearly fifty years later, a story remembered by the son of a Georgia criminal led investigators to four entirely different men and an unexpected explanation for what happened that night.

Join the Community on Patreon:

Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries

Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists.

📱 Follow on Social Media:

Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast

Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, “Sheriff Hagaman Announces That 50-Year-Old Triple Homicide ‘Durham Case’ Solved”
• Watauga Democrat, “Suspects Get Counsel for Current Term,” May 15, 1972
• Watauga Democrat, “Investigation of Durham Family’s Slaying Continues”
• Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of the June 1972 preliminary hearing in the Durham murder case
• Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of the September 1972 grand jury indictments of Jerry Ray Cassada and Dean Chandler
• Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of Dean Chandler’s 1973 speedy-trial motion and scheduled trial
• Winston-Salem Journal, contemporary February 1972 coverage of the Durham family murders and early investigation
• The Charlotte Observer, “Family Was Found Dead in a Bathtub 50 Years Ago. Now NC Cops Say They Know the Killers”
• The News & Observer, retrospective coverage of the Durham family murders and crime scene
• Associated Press, contemporary coverage of the dismissal of the remaining murder charges against Jerry Ray Cassada
• Watauga County Sheriff’s Office / Watauga Online, “Sheriff Hagaman Announces That 50-Year-Old Triple Homicide ‘Durham Case’ Solved”
• High Country Press, “Watauga County Historical Society Speaker Series: ‘Convoluted: The 1972 Durham Family Triple Homicide,’ with Terry Harmon”
• Missing in the Carolinas, “Episode 130: The 1972 Murders of Bryce, Virginia, and Bobby Durham in Boone”
• WSOC-TV, 2022 coverage of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office announcement identifying the men investigators believe killed the Durham family
• WBTV, 2022 coverage of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office announcement that the Durham case had been solved
• Georgia Supreme Court, Birt v. State
• Georgia court records concerning the murders of Reid and Lois Fleming
• Federal court records concerning Bobby Gene Gaddis and crimes associated with Billy Sunday Birt
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reporting on Billy Sunday Birt, his family and his criminal history
• North Carolina Newspapers / DigitalNC, Watauga Democrat archive, 1972–1973
• Terry Harmon, Convoluted: The 1972 Durham Family Triple Homicide

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.