The Crossroads

The story that Robert Johnson went to the crossroads, met the devil, gave up his soul and became the best guitarist around is so compelling, such a stew of recollection, African tradition, Christian religion and magic, that it is impossible not be fascinated with it.  The story has been aided and abetted by Hollywood (to say nothing of the Chambers of Commerce of several Delta communities) and has become firmly woven into the Delta's fabric.

Kitty Kat, Helena, AK

In reality, Robert died before the legend began to grow.  The Crossroads Blues doesn't mention the deal with the devil.  It is about another subject, one which is not so obvious today.  Robert was trying to make it as an itinerant musician, going from juke joint to house party to the Hirsberg drugstore front steps in Friar's Point, over to the Kitty Kat in Helena.  Most of the places are gone.  The only one I could find was the Kitty Kat.  He had no car, so he had to walk, take one of the many short line railroads that criss-cross the Delta or flag a ride.
He says,
Standin' at the crossroad, I tried to flag a ride
No one seems to know him.  Everyone passes him by.  Then he gets to the point of the song:
Mmm, the sun goin' down, boy
dark gon' catch me here
Robert then sings,
You can run, you can run
tell my friend Willie Brown
Lord, that I'm standin' at the crossroad, babe
I believe I'm sinkin' down
Consider a black man standing on a lonely road after dark in the
1920's.  He's asking you to tell his best friend, Willie Brown, that he's gone, that he fears being killed.  He might well be relieved to meet the devil in a situation like
that.  At least you can bargain with the devil.
Now, as to location ...

If there was a grand bargain, it almost certainly not at the crossroad of Hwys. 49 and 61, regardless of how fervently the Chamber of Commerce in Clarksdale wishes it were so.  Too busy, and the crossing where the crossroads sign is erected wouldn't have been there when Robert was travelling the area.  (However, there's a good hot tamale place and a plenitude of souvenirs there.)  Son House thought the intersection was that of Hwy 8 and 1 in Rosedale, probably thinking of of the true meaning of the song and Robert's circuit of traveling and playing.  Finally, there's old Hwy 8 at the Dockery Farms.  This was a large farm, large enough to make a profitable crowd of a Saturday night.  Charley Patton lived there, and most delta musicians performed there.  When we think of the popular version of the crossroad story, we think of the road being a lonely one.  After all, the Devil usually arrives when we are alone with our fears, doesn't he?  Here is the likely old Hwy 8 at Dockery.  Of course, the true place is not known.

Crossroad of Old 8 and Dockery Road, approximately

Religion and older religion
There an African tradition that resonates with the crossroads story.  It is that Legba the trickster god meets you at the crossroad, which is, after all a place of choices.  Later tellings of the story of how Robert learned to play have integrated the African tradition.
Really?
The story is one of many facets, one that allows for delicious speculation.  Robert was a fatalist, and many of his own songs have dark themes.  I think the song was about the prosaic business of being an itinerant bluesman, with a fatalistic ... or in the time he was writing, a realistic ... overlay.

Location:Ruleville, ms