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The story of the Trail of Tears is interesting and
sad. The
Chieftains Museum in Rome, Georgia was once the home of the powerful
Cherokee leader known as “Ridge”. He was born in 1771 in Tennessee. In
the War of 1812, he and other Cherokees fought successfully alongside
the Americans against the British and the Creek Indians. He played such
a prominent role in the victory that General Andrew Jackson gave him the
title of Major. The mission school in Cornwall, Connecticut, where
he met and fell in
love with the daughter of white families associated with the school.
After much resistance from the white community, he married and
brought his bride back to Georgia. I
In the
early 1800’s, Major Ridge moved his family to a cabin on the Oostanaula
River near present-day Rome. His brother, John Ridge helped his father to expand the
house and holdings and Major Ridge became one of the wealthiest men in
the Cherokee Nation. Buck Watie, Major Ridge’s nephew, adopted the name
of the white mission board member who had taken him under his wing,
Elias Boudinot. Elias (Buck) and his white wife Harriet lived at New
Echota (near Calhoun, Georgia) where he published the Cherokee
Phoenix, the first Cherokee language newspaper. Every article was
printed in the Cherokee language as well as in English.
During
this time period, whites and Europeans were encroaching on the Cherokee
Nation’s lands. The Cherokees, who had once occupied lands in seven
future states, were gradually squeezed into northern Georgia, parts of
western North Carolina and northern Alabama. The state of Georgia wanted
the Indians removed to make room for its growing population.
Another
prominent Cherokee, John Ross, fought long and hard against removal. He
went to Washington, D.C., several times to appeal for help from the
federal government. Although the legislature was sympathetic to the
plight of the Cherokees, President Andrew Jackson would not interfere
with the goals of the state of Georgia despite a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that could have forestalled removal.
In 1835,
the Treaty of New Echota was signed by a small group of Cherokees,
including the Ridges and Boudinot. This treaty relinquished all Cherokee
Indian claims to land east of the Mississippi River in exchange for land
in what is now the state of Oklahoma. A Cherokee law had been passed
several years earlier making punishable by death any cession of Cherokee
land. Major Ridge knew the penalty for what he had done but felt he had
to do it to save his people from annihilation. By 1839, all Cherokee
land had been divided into lots that were given to white settlers and
all Cherokees not swearing allegiance to the state of Georgia had been
removed to Oklahoma. This event became known as the “Trail of Tears”. Shortly
after the last Cherokees arrived in Oklahoma, Major Ridge, John Ridge
and Elias Boudinot were assassinated because of their involvement in the
Treaty of New Echota. The home of Major Ridge survived and is now a museum called “Chieftains”.
For additional information, go to the website
www.nationaltota.org. TOTA, a citizens' organization
of national and international members, has
state chapters in the nine states through which
the Trail traverses. These states are Alabama,
Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri,
North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
The chapters address the more specific issues
in each state, such as membership development,
chapter organization and other efforts that assist
the Association and the National Park Service in
achieving their goals and objectives. Also see
www.chieftainstrail.com and
www.gastateparks.org.
 Visit
the Funk Heritage Center gift shop to purchase a DVD on the The Trail
of Tears: Cherokee Legacy, a two-hour documentary film project
produced by Rich-Heape Films, Inc. in cooperation with the
Cherokee Nation.
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