Offcial Map & Guide -Large Print

Trail of Tears Trail of Tears National Historic Trail / Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma National Park Service Offcial Map & Department of the Interior Guide - Large Print Formatted for ADA standards at 11” x 17” print size. the government Cherokee Nation might more mercifully A traveler through the southern Appalachians realizes that something is have put to death missing from the forested mountains and everyone under a year or cascading streams. The people who once lived here no longer work the land or hunt over sixty; rather it had the forests. Their spirits remain and their language is on the landscape, but most of chosen a most expensive them are gone. Where did they go? Do they and painful way of survive? The answers are on the Trail of Tears. exterminating these poor people. In the 1600s about 25,000 Cherokee lived on lands stretching from the Ohio River to —Missionary Daniel northern Georgia. But European diseases devastated the Cherokee throughout Butrick the 1700s, and by 1819 Americans’ unquenchable thirst for land had whittled away Cherokee lands—down to 10 percent One will not hear the of their original territory. anguished voice of a Still, they endured. Cherokee Sacred forgotten and broken Fire—rekindled each spring in the New Fire Ceremony and the source of every people. Instead one home fre—shone over a unifed Cherokee Nation. Adopting many of the political and might hear the pride economic features of the United States, of people who faced they drafted a constitution, established their own courts, and created a written overwhelming adversity language. As a symbol of their revival, and persevered. their newspaper was named the Cherokee Phoenix, after the mythical bird reborn of —Cherokee Nation fre. The Cherokee people had shaped a stable and prosperous life—one envied by their white neighbors. Rev. 02/06/13 The Removal Act Illinois, were taken away by the end of 1837. The Seminoles fercely resisted removal From the time Europeans arrived in the from their Florida homeland but, after great New World, they struggled with how to live losses in the Seminole Wars, some 4,000 alongside native people. In 1803 Thomas people were deported to Indian Territory by Jeferson became the frst president to 1842. publicly support removing Indians, and for the next 25 years eastern tribes were forced The Cherokee resisted removal and west. Some of the Cherokee (known as the looked to their leaders to sway American “Old Settlers”) moved west on their own political opinion. Still, 20 tribal members, to distance themselves from the expanding led by Major Ridge and acting outside the American republic. authority of the Cherokee government, signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835. Events accelerated after Andrew Jackson The conditions for removal were set: In was elected president in 1828. In 1830 exchange for $5 million the tribe would Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, relocate to Indian Territory. Though providing “for an exchange of lands with the majority of Cherokee protested the the Indians residing in any of the states or agreement, by May 1836 Congress made it territories, and for their removal west of law. The treaty gave the Cherokee two years the river Mississippi.” Meanwhile the state to voluntarily move. of Georgia, home to the Cherokee, passed laws prohibiting them from conducting tribal business, testifying against whites, and Cherokee Trail of Tears mining for gold. Most Cherokee refused to recognize the Treaty of New Echota; few had moved The Cherokee Nation, though, had after two years. In the spring of 1838, 7,000 produced leaders well versed in the US soldiers under Gen. Winfeld Scott moved legal system, leaders who fought back. against the Cherokee Nation. The removal In Worcester v. Georgia the US Supreme efort began in Georgia, where Cherokee Court, headed by Chief Justice John families were uprooted and driven— Marshall, ruled in 1832 that the Cherokee sometimes at bayonet point—to “round-up” held sovereign land rights. President camps, then concentrated in larger removal Jackson openly dismissed the ruling. The camps. Cherokee were running out of options. In June the army loaded Cherokee onto fatboats that traveled the Tennessee, Ohio, The Gathering Storm Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers to Indian On the heels of the Indian Removal Act, Territory. The frst boat reached its goal government agents descended on the in 13 days, but desertions and fatalities southeastern native peoples. One by one plagued the next two groups. Diseases the tribes were removed. Agents coerced raged through the cramped, poorly- Choctaw chiefs in Mississippi to sign supplied boats. the frst removal treaty, and in late 1831 the tribe was quickly moved to Indian To save his people, Principal Chief John Territory—present-day Oklahoma. Ross petitioned General Scott to let the Cherokee control their own removal. Ross The government removed most Muscogee organized detachments of about 1,000 each, Creeks, many in chains, from Alabama and and the Cherokee traveled by foot, horse, Georgia to Indian Territory by 1836. The and wagon for 800 miles, taking up to eight Chickasaw, whose homeland had once months to reach Indian Territory. Despite stretched from Tennessee to Arkansas and prearranged supply points, they sufered terribly during the hard winter. Of about 15,000 Cherokee forced from their homes, [photo caption] many hundreds died in the camps or on the Above: Their newspaper, the Cherokee journey. The Cherokee Nation remained Phoenix, was bilingual. American Antiquarian alive though, in the spirits of the people and Society in the ashes saved from the Sacred Fire they carried along the trail. [photo caption] Far left: Deed for Cherokee land transferred in 1832 to a white settler in Georgia’s land A Nation Renewed lottery. © Georgia State Archives Weak and traumatized, 17 detachments of Cherokee arrived in Indian Territory in 1838 [artwork caption] Center left: Andrew Jackson, president and 1839. The treaty strife and the harsh 1829-37, was determined to remove the removal had also divided the Cherokee into southeastern tribes. US Senate three factions: pro-treaty, anti-treaty, and the “Old Settlers.” [artwork caption] Left: John Ross, Cherokee Principal Chief 1828- Despite the political discord, the Cherokee 66, led the resistance to his tribe’s removal. reconstructed their lives. In September 1839 © Woolaroc Museum delegates signed a constitution. The tribe reelected John Ross as Principal Chief and [photo caption] Tahlequah became the Cherokee capital. In Left: Blocked by icebound rivers, many 1844 the Cherokee Supreme Court building Cherokee endured weeks of harsh winter opened its doors. The Cherokee Advocate, a weather without adequate clothing. bilingual newspaper, began publication. By © Sam Watts-Scott 1846 the three factions had signed a treaty that addressed many of their diferences. [photo caption] The Sacred Fire of the Cherokee Nation Right: The fve “Civilized Tribes” were burned again. removed from their homelands in the 1830s. NPS map Meeting other challenges as they rebuilt their nation, the Cherokee proved resilient [artwork caption] in the ensuing years. Today the Cherokee The Trail of Tears, by Max D. Standley, and other removed tribes endure as portrays displaced Cherokee on the long road vigorous Indian nations. The Trail of Tears from their old home in Appalachia to their new one in Indian Territory. story is one of racial injustice, intolerance, © Max D. Standley / R. Michelson Galleries and sufering. But this is also a story of survival, of a people thriving in the present [photo caption] while remembering the past—not only The Appalachian Mountains in eastern in Oklahoma, but in the homelands of Tennessee and North Carolina were home and southern Appalachia. hunting grounds to countless generations of Cherokee people before they were forcibly [map caption] removed. © Dan Triplett Far left: Lands of the Cherokee people were steadily reduced in the 100 years before their removal. NPS map [photo caption] Left: Sequoyah (George Gist) completed an 86-character Cherokee syllabary in 1821, enabling many Cherokee to become literate. © Museum Of The Cherokee February 4, 1846 removal because they live on land ceded to them by earlier treaties. These Cherokee First wagons leave Nauvoo and cross the are the basis for today’s Eastern Band of Mississippi River. Cherokee Indians. 1721 1838 (Aug. 23) The Cherokee sign the frst of several Cherokee Hair Conrad leads the frst treaties that, over the next 70 years, force land route detachment out of Fort Cass, them to cede over half their lands. Tennessee. Twelve more detachments depart over the next two months, most 1791 (July 2) traveling by the northern route. The Treaty of Holston places the Cherokee under US protection. 1838 (Sept. 28) Cherokee leader John Benge leads a 1828 detachment out of Fort Payne, Alabama. The discovery of gold in northern Georgia leads to the “Georgia Gold Rush” the 1838 (Oct. 11) following year, much of it on Cherokee John Bell, a white man married to a lands. Cherokee woman, leads 660 pro-treaty Cherokee to Indian Territory. 1830 (May 26) Congress passes the Indian Removal Act; 1839 (Jan. 4) President Andrew Jackson signs it into law The frst land route detachment, led by two days later. Cherokee Elijah Hicks, arrives in Indian Territory; fnal detachments arrive in late 1832 March. Lotteries are held for appropriated Cherokee lands in Georgia. 1839 (Sept. 6) Cherokee delegates sign a constitution for 1832 (March 3) the reunited Cherokee Nation. In Worcester v. Georgia the US Supreme Court confrms that the Cherokee Indians 1987 are a nation holding distinct sovereign Congress establishes the Trail of Tears powers. National Historic Trail. In 2009 more routes 1835 (Dec. 29) are added. Twenty “treaty party” leaders sign the Treaty of New Echota, which leads to Cherokee removal.

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