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<TITLE>The Cherokee Trail of Tears - National Historic Trail - 1838-1839</TITLE>
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="National Historic Trail The Cherokee Trail of Tears 1838-1839 Federal Indian Removal Policy Early in the 19th century, the United States felt threatened by England and Spain,who held land in the western continent. At the same time, American settlers clamo">
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<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+4>National Historic Trail</FONT></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><IMG SRC="thetrai2.jpg" ALT="The Trail of Tears" HEIGHT=200 WIDTH=610></CENTER>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+3>The Cherokee Trail of Tears</FONT></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+3>1838-1839</FONT></B></CENTER>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>Federal Indian Removal Policy</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P><IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Early in the 19th century, the United States
felt threatened by England and Spain,who held land in the western continent.
At the same time, American settlers clamored for more land. Thomas Jefferson
proposed the creation of a buffer zone between U.S. and European holdings,
to be inhabited by eastern American Indians. This plan would also allow
for American expansion westward from the original colonies to the Mississippi
River.</B>
<P>
<TABLE ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 >
<TR>
<TD><IMG SRC="jackson.jpg" ALT="Andrew Jackson" HEIGHT=131 WIDTH=113 ALIGN=LEFT></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<CENTER><B>President</B></CENTER>
<CENTER><B>Andrew Jackson</B></CENTER>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Between 1816 and 1840, tribes located between
the original states and the Mississippi River, including Cherokees, Chickasaws,
Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, signed more than 40 treaties ceding their
lands to the U.S. In his 1829 inaugural address, President Andrew Jackson
set a policy to relocate eastern Indians. In 1830 it was endorsed, when
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act to force those remaining to move
west of the Mississippi. Between 1830 and 1850, about 100,000 American
Indians living between Michigan, Louisiana, and Florida moved west after
the U.S. government coerced treaties or used the U.S. Army against those
resisting. Many were treated brutally. An estimated 3,500 Creeks died in
Alabama and on their westward journey. Some were transported in chains.</B>
<P>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="500">
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>The Cherokees</FONT></B></CENTER>
<TABLE ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 >
<TR>
<TD><IMG SRC="scott.jpg" ALT="General Winfield Scott" HEIGHT=132 WIDTH=111></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<CENTER><B>General</B></CENTER>
<CENTER><B>Winfield Scott</B></CENTER>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Historically, Cherokees occupied lands in several
southeastern states. As European settlers arrived, Cherokees traded and
intermarried with them. They began to adopt European customs and gradually
turned to an agricultural economy, while being pressured to give up traditional
homelands. Between 1721 and 1819, over 90 percent of their lands were ceded
to others. By the 1820s, Sequoyah's syllabary brought literacy and a formal
governing system with a written constitution. In 1830--the same year the
Indian Removal Act was passed--gold was found on Cherokee lands. Georgia
held lotteries to give Cherokee land and gold rights to whites. Cherokees
were not allowed to conduct tribal business, contract, testify in courts
against whites, or mine for gold.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>The Cherokees successfully challenged
Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court. President Jackson, when hearing of the
Court's decision, reportedly said, "[Chief Justice] John Marshall has made
his decision; let him enforce it now if he can.</B>
<P>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="500">
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>The Treaty of New Echota</FONT></B></CENTER>
<TABLE ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 >
<TR>
<TD><IMG SRC="ridge.jpg" ALT="Major Ridge" HEIGHT=152 WIDTH=125></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<CENTER><B>Major Ridge</B></CENTER>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Most Cherokees opposed removal. Yet a minority
felt that it was futile to continue to fight. They believed that they might
survive as a people only if they signed a treaty with the U.S.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>In December 1835, the U.S. sought out
this minority to effect a treaty at New Echota, Georgia. Only 300 to 500
Cherokees were there; none were elected officials of the Cherokee Nation.
Twenty signed the treaty, ceding all Cherokee territory east of the Mississippi
to the U.S., in exchange for $5 million and new homelands in Indian Territory.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>More than 15,000 Cherokees protested
the illegal treaty. Yet, on May 23, 1836, the Treaty of New Echota was
ratified by the U.S. Senate--by just one vote.</B>
<P>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="500">
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>"Many Days Pass And People Die Very Much"</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P><IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Most Cherokees, including Chief John Ross,
did not believe that they would be forced to move. In May 1838, Federal
troops and state militias began the roundup of the Cherokees into stockades.
In spite of warnings to troops to treat the Cherokees kindly, the roundup
proved harrowing.</B>
<P><IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Families were separated--the elderly and ill
forced out at gunpoint-- people given only moments to collect cherished
possessions. White looters followed, ransacking homesteads as Cherokees
were led away.</B>
<P>
<TABLE ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 >
<TR>
<TD><IMG SRC="ross.jpg" ALT="John Ross" HEIGHT=152 WIDTH=123></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<CENTER><B>Chief John Ross</B></CENTER>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Three groups left in the summer, traveling from
present-day Chattanooga by rail, boat, and wagon, primarily on the Water
Route. But river levels were too low for navigation; one group, traveling
overland in Arkansas, suffered three to five deaths each day due to illness
and drought.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Fifteen thousand captives still awaited
removal. Crowding, poor sanitation, and drought made them miserable. Many
died. The Cherokees asked to postpone removal until the fall, and to voluntarily
remove themselves. The delay was granted, provided they remain in internment
camps until travel resumed.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>By November, 12 groups of 1,000 each
were trudging 800 miles overland to the west. The last party, including
Chief Ross, went by water. Now, heavy autumn rains and hundreds of wagons
on the muddy route made roads impassable; little grazing and game could
be found to supplement meager rations.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>Two-thirds of the ill-equipped Cherokees
were trapped between the ice-bound Ohio and Mississippi Rivers during January.
Although suffering from a cold, Quatie Ross, the Chief's wife, gave her
only blanket to a child.</B>
<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=0 WIDTH="80%" >
<TR>
<TD><B><I>"Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when
they leave Old Nation. Womens cry and make sad wails, Children cry and
many men cry...but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on
go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much."</I></B></TD>
</TR>
</TABLE></CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER=0 WIDTH="95%" >
<TR>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><B>Recollections of a survivor</B> </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>She died of pneumonia at Little Rock. Some drank
stagnant water and succumbed to disease. One survivor told how his father
got sick and died; then, his mother; then, one by one, his five brothers
and sisters. "One each day. Then all are gone."</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>By March 1839, all survivors had arrived
in the west. No one knows how many died throughout the ordeal, but the
trip was especially hard on infants, children, and the elderly. Missionary
doctor Elizur Butler, who accompanied the Cherokees, estimated that over
4,000 died--nearly a fifth of the Cherokee population.</B>
<P>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="500">
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE=+2>Epilogue</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P><IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>In August 1839, John Ross was elected Principal
Chief of the reconstituted Cherokee Nation. Tahlequah, Oklahoma was its
capital. It remains tribal headquarters for the Cherokee Nation today.</B>
<P> <IMG SRC="space.gif" ><B>About 1,000 Cherokees in Tennessee and
North Carolina escaped the roundup. They gained recognition in 1866, establishing
their tribal government in 1868 in Cherokee, North Carolina. Today, they
are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.</B>
<P>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><B><FONT SIZE=+1>National Historic Trail:</FONT></B>
<UL><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/trail/today.html";>The
Trail Today</A></B>
<BR><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/trail/map.html";>Trail
Map</A></B></UL>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><IMG SRC="logo.gif" ALT="National Historic Trail (TM)" HEIGHT=144 WIDTH=143 ALIGN=RIGHT>
<P> <B><FONT SIZE=+1>For more information:</FONT></B>
<P>
<UL><B>Long Distance Trails Group Office - Santa Fe</B>
<BR><B>National Park Service</B>
<BR><B>P.O. Box 728</B>
<BR><B>Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728</B>
<BR><B>505-988-6888</B></UL>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><B><FONT SIZE=+1>Related Links:</FONT></B>
<UL><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/trail/timeline.html";>The
Trail of Tears - Timeline 1838-1839</A></B>
<BR><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/tears1.html";>The
Trail of Tears State Park</A></B> <B>Cape Girardeau, Missouri</B>
<BR><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/trail";>The
Trail of Tears</A></B> <B>in the Southeast Missouri Region</B>
<BR><IMG SRC="bluedot.gif" HEIGHT=23 WIDTH=35> <B><A HREF="http://rosecity.net/tears/";>The
Cherokee Trail of Tears - 1838-1839</A></B> <B>Homepage Index</B></UL>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><B><FONT SIZE=-1>For more information on these
and other events contact the <A HREF="http://rosecity.net/cvb.html";>Cape
Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau</A>.</FONT></B>
<BR>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><FONT SIZE=-1><B>Unauthorized use of the official
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail logo (TM) is prohibited.</B>
<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"><B><U>Credits:</U> <I>"Trail of Tears" </I>adapted
from painting by Robert Lindneux. Courtesy of the Woolaroc Museum, Bartlesville,
Oklahoma.</B></FONT>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1><U>President Andrew Jackson: </U>The cherokees played
a decisive role in Andrew Jackson's vistory at Horseshoe Bend during the
Creek War. As President, Jackson implemented the U.S. Indian Removal Policy.
Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.</FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1><U>General Winfield Scott: </U>General Scott was placed
in charge of the Cherokee removal. Photograph courtesy of the Library of
Congress.</FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1><U>Major Ridge:</U> Major Ridge led the minority faction
that signed the Treaty of New Echota, leading to the Cherokee removal.
Photograph courtesy of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.</FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1><U>John Ross:</U> John Ross was elected Principal Chief
in 1828. Photograph courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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