The plantation was started in 1895 by Will Dockery (1865–1936), a graduate of the University of Mississippi who originally bought the land for its timber but soon recognized  the richness of its soil. At the time, much of the Delta area was still a wilderness of cypress and gum trees, roamed by panthers and wolves and plagued with mosquitoes.
The plantation was established in 1895 by Will Dockery, a graduate of the University of Mississippi who initially purchased the land for its timber but later recognized the soil's fertility. The area at that time was largely undeveloped, with cypress and gum trees dominating the landscape, inhabited by panthers and wolves, and plagued by mosquitoes.