Walking the Trail of Tears

     The Cherokee Indians were once a great nation centered in the Great Smokey Mountains with a sphere of influence extending hundreds of miles. They were probably the most "civilized" (Europeanized) tribe in America with well established churches and schools equal to those of their white neighbors. They lived in log cabins even before European contact, although the Cherokee style had no windows

     The Cherokees had their own code of tribal laws, and eventually a written constitution, with elected officials. They adopted the white man's ways, including cloth garments, the English language, and Christianity. Already skilled at farmers and hunters, they learned trades and skills, opening mills, foundries, plantations, and cattle ranches. Some even owned black slaves like their white neighbors.
     Their fate turned when gold was discovered on Cherokee lands. A movement had been gathering since about 1800 for the removal of all Indians to reservations west of the Mississippi, and the discovery of gold had fueled the fire in earnest.

John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation during the Removal period.

     Another factor was the debate going on within the Cherokee people over the most divisive issue of the day: the abolition of slavery. Both sides of the argument found Cherokee advocates, but abolition of slavery within the Cherokee Nation would have created a de facto "free state" in the heart of the Deep South. Runaway slaves would no longer have top make the journey all the way to Ohio, Illinois, or Pennsylvania. The vested powers in the state houses could not take this chance.
     The Georgia legislature ruled to seize the lands. A law was passed that "no Indian or descendant of an Indian shall be deemed a competent witness in any case in court to which a white person may be a party." Other states where Cherokee lands fell adopted similar laws.
     Seeing the trend, about 2,000 Cherokees, now known as the Old Settlers, moved west, forming the Western Cherokee Nation, making the creator of the Cherokee writing system, Sequoyah, their principal chief. Sequoyah would later prove his diplomatic skill by resolving conflicts between the different groups arriving from the east, allowing a single Cherokee government to be established again.
      In 1830, President Andrew Jackson made good on a campaign promise. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, requiring all Indians to either relocate west of the Mississippi, or become naturalized US citizens.
      The Choctaw were removed first, then the Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek, along with remnants of the Yuchi and Shawnee. Because of their remote locations in the mountains, the troops came for the Cherokees last. Many Cherokees were certain the removal order didn't apply to them because of prior treaties. They were wrong.
      Jackson's successor, President Martin van Buren, executed the removal of the Cherokees from their land. An armed force of 7,000 made up of militia, regular army, and volunteers under General Winfield Scott forced the remaining 15,000 Cherokees from their homes in the Great Smokey Mountains and removed them to stockades near Charleston, Tennessee. Their homes were burned, and their property destroyed and plundered.
      Farms belonging to the Cherokees for generations were won by white settlers in a lottery. A song of the time tells "all I want in God's creation is a pretty little wife and a big plantation way up yonder in the Cherokee Nation."
      The Army commanded some of 13 separate groups, while others were hired out to contractors who were paid $65 per Indian by the government for food and medicines - money that was often not used for its intended purpose.
      Two of the detachments traveled by river while the 11 others made their miserable way by land across Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.

     The thousand-mile march began in the winter of 1838. Carrying only a few light blankets and wearing scant clothing with daily rations of only salt pork and corn meal, many sickened and died along the way. Medical care was nearly non-existent. Only the very old, sick, and small children could be carried in wagons or ride on horseback. Over 8,000 were on foot, many barefoot. The last group crossed Kentucky, coming through Marion about December 10, 1838.
      From Marion, they proceeded through Salem toward the Ohio River. They were forced to pay $1 a head for a ferry passage on Berry's Ferry operating to Golconda, Illinois. It normally cost only 12 and half cents for a fully loaded Conestoga wagon and horses. Berry's Ferry made over $10,000 that winter out of the pockets of the starving Cherokees. They were not allowed passage until the ferry had first serviced all others wishing to cross. They were forced to take shelter under Mantle Rock, a rock ledge on the Kentucky side, until Berry was ready and the ice floes had cleared. Hundreds died huddled together at Mantle Rock waiting to cross.

      Of the Cherokees who started the trek, only three-quarters arrived in the Indian Territory. Of the other quarter, some 4,000 Cherokees, many died, and many simply walked away, abandoning their Cherokee citizenship, but never their memory.
     There were funerals almost daily, and by the time the Cherokees arrived in Oklahoma, the song everyone knew was the funeral song, sung to the tune of 'Amazing Grace.' As a result, it has become the unofficial Cherokee national anthem.
      In 2002, Cherokee descendants from around the country began moving back into communities along the Trail of Tears, including Marion.   
      To this day, thousands of people in the communities along the Trail of Tears remember their Native American heritage. Every year, hundreds of descendants of the Removed Nations retrace all or part of the Trail, visiting locations mentioned in their family histories.