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The Trail of Tears

By possum

In Hopkinsville, KY, near the place of my birth where my brother lives still is a campground and park located on the grounds of an encampment on the fabled "Trail of Tears."  

Used in 1838 and 1839 the ground includes the graves of two Cherokee chiefs, White Path and Fly Smith, who died during the time of the encampment.

But both 75-year-old Whitepath and Fly Smith became seriously ill after leaving Nashville. They both crossed over within hours of arriving in Hopkinsville, and were buried near the camp on the Little River.

Today the site hosts an intertribal PowPow one time a year.

Given the importance of the discovery of America by white men led by Christopher Columbus and the association with my family yet today a consideration of the Cherokee and their history seems relevant.  
The Cherokee call themselves by various names including Ani-Kituhwagi, "the people of Kituhwa."  Evidence shows that the Cherokee originated farther north but by the time of the first European contact in 1540 with DeSoto, they lived in dispersed groups in the southern Appalachian region.  Today the Cherokee Nation remains second largest Indian tribe in the United States with more than 200,000 tribal members.  About a third of these Cherokees reside in the 7,000 square mile area of the Cherokee Nation which is not a reservation, but a jurisdictional service area that includes all of eight counties and portions of six in northeastern Oklahoma.

When the Spaniards first met the Cherokee they were not kind to the natives.

The Spanish explorers found the first Cherokee village they encountered practically deserted. The Cherokee were aware of the outrageous conduct of the Spaniards toward neighboring tribes so they abandoned their towns before the arrival of the expedition, leaving behind only those who could not travel. In need of food and receiving no help from the Cherokee, the expedition quickly moved on to the north.

The English were no better in the first interactions.  The English first found the Cherokee in 1654 near the site of today's Richmond.  At the time the settlers had finished an extended battle to exterminate other tribes and were in no mind to seek peace with the Cherokee.  The colonists saw the Cherokee as a violent group whose primary function was war between tribes.

Some Cherokee chiefs visited Charleston in 1693 demanding firearms for their wars against neighboring tribes.

 
The arms race continued over time as different tribes acquired weapons.  

Initially the guns were purchased with furs and skins. The South Carolina Colony, established in 1670, was encouraging the tribes to trade their Native American prisoners of war which were then sold into slavery. In 1705, there were complaints from North Carolina that the South Carolina governor's trade in Native American slaves had so angered the tribes that an Indian war was inevitable.

Over the course of time relations between the white settlers and the Cherokee deteriorated.  Treaties were proposed and agreed to by the Native Americans but trouble only increased with each cession of land and rights.

The typical pattern was that settlers would move onto Cherokee land and refuse to leave. In spite of Cherokee raids resulting in numerous deaths, the settlers continued to arrive. Though the colonial governments promised to prevent the intrusions, this was never done. Local militia were raised to protect against Cherokee raids and eventually the Cherokee were forced to cede the land in another treaty.

The 1830's brought greater trouble when gold was discovered on Cherokee land in Georgia.  Greed took precedence and the natives were soon displaced.

A period of Indian Removals began to make way for more white settlement. In 1838, thousands of Cherokee men, women and children were rounded up and marched 1,000 miles to Indian Territory, known today as the state of Oklahoma. Thousands died in the internment camps, on the trail, and after arrival (due to the effects of the journey.)

From this article

The Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson argued that "no state could achieve proper culture, civilization, and progress, as long as Indians remained within its boundaries". Jackson ordered that the Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokees, Creek, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, must move from the southern states to the Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma - a word that means "red people". It was solemnly sworn in a "permanent treaty" to be the Indian's Promised Land "for as long as grass grows and water flows" - which turned out to mean until the white man wanted more land.

Samuel Cloud turned 9 years old on the Trail of Tears.  His story is told by his great-great grandson, Michael Rutledge.

They lead us to a stockade. They herd us into this pen like we are cattle. No one was given time to gather any possessions. The nights are still cold in the mountains and we do not have enough blankets to go around. My mother holds me at night to keep me warm. That is the only time I feel safe. I feel her pull me to her tightly. I feel her warm breath in my hair. I feel her softness as I fall asleep at night.
As the days pass, more and more of our people are herded into the stockade. I see other members of my clan. We children try to play, but the elders around us are anxious and we do not know what to think. I often sit and watch the others around me. I observe the guards. I try not to think about my hunger. I am cold.
Several months have passed and still we are in the stockades. My father looks tired. He talks with the other men, but no one seems to know what to do or what is going to happen. We hear that white men have moved into our homes and are farming our fields. What will happen to us? We are to march west to join the Western Cherokees. I don't want to leave these mountains.

(snip)

We walked for many days. I don't know how long it has been since we left our home, but the mountains are behind us. Each day, we start walking a little later. They bury the dead in shallow graves, because the ground is frozen. As we walk past white towns, the whites come out to watch us pass. No words are spoken to them. No words are said to us. Still, I wish they would stop staring. I wish it were them walking in this misery and I were watching them. It is because of them that we are walking. I don't understand why, but I know that much. They made us leave our homes. They made us walk to this new place we are heading in the middle of winter. I do not like these people. Still, they stare at me as I walk past.

I hate the white people who lined the roads in their woolen clothes that kept them warm, watching us pass. None of those white people are here to say they are sorry that I am alone. None of them care about me or my people. All they ever saw was the color of our skin. All I see is the color of theirs and I hate them.

Like the account from Samuel Cloud suggests others reflect the same story

During the roundup intimidation and acts of cruelty at the hands of the troops, along with the theft and destruction of property by local residents, further alienated the Cherokees. Finally, Chief Ross appealed to President Van Buren to permit the Cherokees to oversee their own removal. Van Buren consented, and Ross and his brother Lewis administered the effort. The Cherokees were divided into 16 detachments of about 1,000 each.

The most commonly used overland route followed a northern alignment, while other detachments (notably those led by John Being and John Bell) followed more southern routes, and some followed slight variations. The northern route started at, Tennessee, and crossed central Tennessee, southwestern Kentucky, and southern Illinois. After crossing the Mississippi River north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, these detachments trekked across southern Missouri and the northwest corner of Arkansas.
Road conditions, illness, and the distress of winter, particularly in southern Illinois while detachments waited to cross the ice-choked Mississippi, made death a daily occurrence. Mortality rates for the entire removal and its aftermath were substantial, totaling approximately 8,000.

(Southern Illinois is across the river from the part of Kentucky where my family still lives.)

Most of the land route detachments entered present-day Oklahoma near Westville and were often met by a detachment of US. troops from Fort Gibson and the Arkansas River. The army officially received the Cherokees, who generally went to live with those who had already arrived, or awaited land assignments while camped alone the Illinois River and its tributaries east of present-day Tahlequah.

The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn't. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately are, they may be Christian, they may be literate, they may have a government like ours, but ultimately they are Indian. And in the end, being Indian is what kills them.--Richard White, Historian

Estimates of the death toll run to at least several thousands.  The Trail of Tears lived up to its name.

Peace.

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on October 13, 2008 (boomark / email).