1700s: Anyone visiting this area needs a passport as Cherokee Nation is its own independent nation.
Numerous treaties in the 1700s with first, the English, and later, the USA government give away parcels of the Cherokee Nation in exchange for forgiven debt and the avoidance of colonization.
1828: Gold is discovered near Dahlonega, Georgia in Cherokee territory. White miners ignore nation boundaries.
1830: Prompted by the discovery of gold in the region, Andrew Jackson and Congress pass the Indian Removal Act.
Between 1830 and 1838, some Cherokee voluntarily leave for their newly designated lands in Oklahoma. Most Cherokee stay and protest the Act.
1832: The Supreme Court rules in favor of Cherokee peoples keeping their land.
1838: Jackson and the states ignore the Supreme Court and force the removal of the Cherokee from their homes. The soldiers give no notice. They descend suddenly, leaving no one time to collect belongings. Many families are separated. The Cherokee are taken to various structures and housed in crowded and unsanitary conditions before beginning their journey to Oklahoma. There are various routes, most by foot and one by crowded boats. One out of four Cherokee die during the displacement from exposure, starvation, and/or disease.
Paraphrased from NPS website:
Photo 1: Audubon Acres: The home of Drowning Bear, a Cherokee who was removed on the Trail of Tears.
Photos 2-4: Brainerd Mission Cemetery: The mission was the principal mission within the Cherokee Nation. At its height, the complex consisted of 50 acres and 40 buildings. On August 18, 1838, the last church service was held at the Brainerd Mission near the cemetery. The mission subsequently closed. A shopping center stands over most of the territory today. The cemetery remains.
Photo 5: Browns Ferry Tavern, Chattanooga: Cherokee leader John Brown had the tavern built in 1803. By the 1830s, Brown’s land formed the boundary of the Cherokee Nation. In 1838, the road running past this structure was the route by which two Cherokee detachments were removed to present-day Oklahoma.
Photo 6: Hair Conrad Cabin: Conrad was a Cherokee leader during the 1820s and 1830s. In 1838, he was selected to lead the first Cherokee detachment, which traveled the main (northern) route from Rattlesnake Springs (near Charleston, TN) to Indian Territory.
Photo 7: John Martin House: John Martin, “a distinguished judge in the courts of the Cherokee Nation,” built the main house in 1835 after being driven out of Georgia. He was forced to sell his property in 1837, just prior to the Cherokee Removal.
Photos 8 and 9: Red Clay State Historic Park: Blue Hole Spring was used by the Cherokee for their water supply during council meetings.
Photos 10 and 11: Hiwassee River Heritage Center: Charleston was once the site of the federal Indian Agency and eventually Fort Cass, the U.S. military headquarters for the entire Cherokee Trail of Tears removal.
Photos 12-14: Ross’ Landing: From 1819-1838, the Tennessee River served as the border between Cherokee lands to the south and United States lands on the north. John Ross, a Cherokee businessman and later Principal Chief, established a ferry crossing and warehouse here between 1813 and 1816.
�Ross’s Landing became a designated departure point for Indian deportation during 1838 and 1839.
Photos 15 -17: Cherokee Removal Memorial Park: The park is intended to educate the public about the forced removal of the Cherokees from their ancestral land.
Photos 18 and 19: Charles Hall Museum and Heritage Center: Native American artifacts and general museum of the area’s antiquities.
