Travel Along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
– Survivor of the Trail of Tears
One of the most memorable trips you can make is to some of the sites on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, which covers 2,200 miles across nine states. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (TTNHT) recognizes the terrible forced removal of the Cherokee people by the U.S. government in 1838. Approximately 17,000 Cherokees and 2,000 of their black slaves were expelled from their homelands in the Southeastern United States and traveled 1,200 miles through Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee to their destination in Oklahoma. Along the way, the Cherokees were relocated in stockades throughout Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina, and in internment camps in Southeastern Tennessee. From the internment camps they were forced to travel, mostly by foot and a combination of horse, wagon and boat, along land water routes to present day Oklahoma. The sad journey was made in harsh conditions that caused illnesses, such as dysentery, resulting in the death of many exiled Cherokees. A study conducted in 1973 estimated that 2,000 died and another in 1984 determined that 8,000 people died. The Cherokee called this tragic journey “Nunna daul Tsuny,” which is interpreted as “The Trail Where They Cried.”
The story of the Trail of Tears is similar to that of other Native American tribes, northern and southern, who were expelled from the lands east of the Mississippi. After the American Revolution, white settlers wanted the lands occupied by Native Americans, and formulated a policy of removing them from their homelands. A national policy to move Native Americans west of the Mississippi was enacted after the Louisiana Territory was purchased from the French in 1803. The American government adopted a removal policy in 1825, which was carried out in the 1830s by Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
The Native Americans in the southeastern United States, mainly the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, were moved to new homes hundreds of miles away. The most tragic incident during this time was the removal of the Cherokees, who called themselves “Ani’-Yun’wiya,” which means the Principal People. The Cherokees lived in the southern Appalachians of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, western North Carolina and South Carolina, northern Georgia, and northeastern Alabama. They had a well-developed culture that centered around farming, hunting, and fishing. They lived in European-style homes and farmsteads, and established a written language and newspaper. The Cherokee capital was New Echota, Georgia, and in 1830, John Ross, who was one-eighth Cherokee, was the principal chief.
In 1828, Georgia passed a law making all laws of the Cherokee Nation to be null and void after June 1, 1830. Also in 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which allowed the executive branch to negotiate for Native American lands. During the winter of 1838 Cherokees began their journey to Oklahoma, which took approximately six months to complete.
In 1838, President Martin Van Buren implemented the Treaty of New Echota, and U.S. Army troops began moving Cherokees into stockades in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. Thirty-one forts were constructed, 13 in Georgia, 5 in North Carolina, 8 in Tennessee, and 5 in Alabama. The Cherokees were subsequently transferred to 11 internment camps in Tennessee and Alabama. By July 1838, the majority of the Cherokees remaining in the East were in internment camps. Their former homes and crops were burned to discourage them from escaping and going back to their land.
The Cherokees were grouped into 16 detachments, consisting of seven hundred to sixteen hundred people in each group. The first groups left on June 6, 1838, by steamboat and barge from Ross’s Landing on the Tennessee River, which is present-day Chattanooga, TN. They followed Tennessee across northern Alabama. Their route was north through central Tennessee and Kentucky to the Ohio River to the mouth of the Arkansas. The Arkansas River led to Indian Territory at the mouth of Sallisaw Creek near Fort Coffee on June 19. The other two groups arrived in Indian Territory at the end of the summer. The Cherokees traveled overland along the low water beyond Little Rock, AK During the harsh journey, they suffered from severe disease and drought, often resulting in death.
When the Cherokees reached present day Oklahoma, they established a system of government, and rebuilt their way of life. However, the establishment of the State of Oklahoma in 1907 increased pressure for land cessions, which means that the tribal lands were divided. Many people who had questionable Cherokee ancestry were able to participate in the allotment of these lands. As a result, the Western Cherokees lost title to over 19 million acres of land. The Cherokees suffered during the depression years of the 1930s when the American government transferred Native Americans from tribal areas to urban America.
In order to get the money for the 1987 forced sale of their property, the Cherokees fought for and won a settlement against the U.S. government. They were awarded $15 million. By 1987, the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation had assets of over $40 million. Presently, approximately 600,000 Oklahoma citizens are of Native American descent. They continue to govern themselves and engage in business enterprises, including tourism because of their proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates historic routes, landmarks and the Cherokee culture.
�Portions of the Trail of Tears pass through the U.S. Forest Service areas. Seventeen miles of trail pass through sections of the Shawnee National Forest between Golconda and Ware in southern Illinois.
�Mark Twain National Forest is the site of sixty miles of trail between Jackson and Farmington and between Caledonia and Steelville, Missouri.
âÂ?¢Approximately 422 miles of the Trail’s water route are along the Tennessee River from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Paducah, Kentucky.
�Approximately eight hundred miles of water route are along the Ohio, Mississippi, and Arkansas Rivers from Paducah, Kentucky, to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.
�The eastern center, on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, consists of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the Oconaluftee Indian Villages.
âÂ?¢The western facility is the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It consists of the Cherokee National Museum, the Tsa-La-Gi Ancient Cherokee Village, the Adams Corner Rural Cherokee Village an amphitheater, which shows the outdoor drama, “Trail of Tears.
�Interpretive centers are located near the eastern and western ends of the Trail of Tears, which are operated by the Cherokees. Other interpretive programs about trail sites are at the New Echota Historic Site in Calhoun, Georgia; the Red Clay state historical area in Cleveland, Tennessee; and the Trail of Tears State Park near Jackson, Missouri.
�The Delta Queen Steamboat Company offers cruises along Trail of Tears water routes on the Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers.
Information about all the Trail of Tears’ sites can be obtained from:
Certified Trail Sites
http://www.nationaltota.org/certified-trail-sites/
Information about each state’s Trail of Tears’ sites can be obtained from the following websites:
Alabama
www.touralabama.org
Arkansas
www.arkansas.com
Georgia
www.georgia.org
Illinois
www.southernmostillinois.com
Kentucky
www.kytourism.com
Missouri
www.visitmo.com
North Carolina
www.visitnc.com
Oklahoma
www.travelok.com
Tennessee
www.tourism.state.tn.us
In 1993, a non-profit organization was formed to promote appreciation of the Trail of Tears. The contact information is:
Trail of Tears Association
1100 North University, Suite 143
Little Rock, Arkansas 72207-6344
1-800-441-4513
Phone: 501-666-9032
Fax: 501-666-5875
References
Brill, Marlene Targ, The Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Journey. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1995.
King, Duane H., and E. Raymond Evans (editors). “The Trail of Tears: Primary Documents of the Cherokee Removal.” Journal of Cherokee Studies, Special Issue, 3: 131-90, 1978.
Perdue, Theda and Michael D. Green (editors). TheCherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents. Boston, MA: Bedford Books, 1995.
Thornton, Russell. The Cherokees: A Population History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
Wilkins, Thurman. 1986. Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986.
