The Trail of Tears
In 1815, a small Cherokee boy was playing along
the Chestatee River in Northern Georgia when he picked up a
colored rock and brought it home to show his mother. The Cherokee
knew what gold was and the mother sold it in a nearby village
to a trader. The discovery started the first gold rush in American
history and earned the envy of the Georgia government. The State
of Georgia soon possessed the land by legislative act and pushed
the Cherokee boundaries on the west bank of the Chestatee River.
It became one of the most defining moments in Cherokee culture
and one of the darkest moments in America’s history.
In the fall of 1820 in New Echota, Ga., the Cherokee people
began one of the greatest social transformations ever witnessed
in world history. They replaced their tribal system with a Republican
form of government and adopted a constitution. The nation was
divided into eight districts and made up with a national committee
and a national congress with tribal representatives elected
to limited terms.
They created positions for President and built council houses
in each of the eight districts, where a judge and marshal were
appointed. Their decision backed up by the "Light Horse"
units assigned to the marshal. Laws were created by the tribal
government levy and collect taxes to support road building and
schools. They also made laws regulating liquor traffic, the
conduct of slaves, and ended the practice of polygamy. They
required whites to have licenses for farming and other business
enterprises and required all marriages to be conducted in legal
ceremonies.
In addition, they did away with the right of blood revenge and
passed all capital punishment judgments to the central government.
Above all, a law was made declaring any Cherokee guilty of treason
and subject to execution if land was sold to whites without
the complete approval of the Cherokee government.
The invention of the Cherokee syllabus by Sequoyah in the following
years propelled the new Republic forward at amazing speed. From
1820 to 1829, the Cherokee developed a working societal government
that was patterned after the United States and designed to legally
protect their rights as citizens and landowners. In 1828, however,
gold was "discovered" in Ward’s Creek near Dahlonega,
Ga. and the fate of the Cherokee Republic was in question.
President-elect Andrew Jackson was replacing John Quincy Adams
and in his inaugural address approached the subject of Indian
removal to the western lands. Georgia – knowing they had
an ally in Jackson- – immediately passed an act extending
its authority over all Cherokee territory. In 1830, Congress
passed the Indian Removal Act giving Jackson the authority to
exchange eastern lands for those in the west with the purpose
of requiring all Native Americans in the southeastern United
States to be removed to lands west of the Mississippi.
The Georgia legislature seized the opportunity and declared
all Cherokee laws null and void and took away their rights to
testify against whites in legal proceedings. They could not
assemble, hold councils, or dig for gold on their own land.
That very act encouraged white thugs to burn homes, pillage
businesses, and kill without reprisals – so long as no
two white men could testify against them. Cherokee miners found
digging gold on their own land were seized and imprisoned. Their
equipment destroyed and lands seized. Whites who lived among
the Cherokee were required to take a loyalty oath to Georgia
and those who refused were subject to four years imprisonment.
A number of arrests were made, including the printer of the
Cherokee Phoenix and two Christian missionaries named Samuel
A. Worcester and Elizur Butler. Both men stated in their defense
they were U.S. citizens and no loyalty oath was required of
them, as they had received permission from the President of
the United States and the Cherokee government to perform their
duties. Georgia rejected their arguments and sentenced the men
to four years hard labor in prison.
The Cherokee had sought to block the Act and Georgia by taking
their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshal
and the residing Justices had dismissed the first case brought
by the Cherokee against the State of Georgia in 1831 reasoning
they had no jurisdiction because the tribe was not officially
recognized as a foreign government.
In 1832, the Court heard Worcester versus Georgia and handed
down a decision upholding Cherokee sovereignty– declaring
the Cherokee were subject to Federal jurisdiction and Georgia
could not pass any laws that encroached on Cherokee territory.
They also ordered that Worcester be released from prison.
Georgia, however, defiantly refused to honor the Court’s
decision and President Andrew Jackson is reported to have remarked:
"Marshal made the decision, now let him enforce it."
Jackson’s refusal to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling
led to anarchy in the Cherokee territories. Worcester wasn’t
released from prison until a year later at the Governor’s
request.
To prevent the outright destruction of his government, Cherokee
Chief John Ross had no option but to desert New Echota and fall
back to his peoples’ ancient lands in Tennessee. The tribe
established its final capitol at the Red Clay Council grounds
and began trying to reestablish order within the tribe.
Pressure continued to be placed on the Cherokee to move to the
western lands. As with most young Republics, radical elements
existed within the tribe that was antagonized by whites wishing
to remove the tribe from the southeast.
The subject of peaceable relocation was debated in Red Clay
Council meetings and met with strong division among the clans.
Political murders were also increasing in the region and this
led to rival elements developing within the tribe.
In February 1835, two Cherokee groups met with the U.S. Government.
The official National delegation was headed by Chief John Ross
who was prepared to fight for the Cherokee to remain in their
ancestral lands. The other was headed by sub chief Major Ridge,
whose delegation had grown tired of the constant struggle and
wanted to make a treaty that would allow for the removal of
the Cherokee.
The Ridge party began negotiations that would sell all claims
in Cherokee lands for the sum of $3, 250,000. Chief Ross discovered
the Ridge negotiations and repudiated them saying the lands
would not be sold for a price less than $20 million, which was
rejected by the U.S. Senate as too excessive. Ridge’s party
was then officially sanctioned for negotiations. Ridge’s
final settlement with the U.S. Government was $4.5 million.
The deal was completed and signed on March 15, 1835, but only
with the stipulation that it must have the full approval of
the Cherokee Council.
When the full Cherokee Council assembled at Red Clay in October
1835, the treaty was rejected – even by Major Ridge and
Elias Boudinot, who had negotiated the agreement. During this
meeting, the council issued a proclamation stating they would
assemble the entire tribe at New Echota to negotiate a treaty
and those who didn’t attend would accept whatever was agreed
upon by those in attendance. When the Council learned that the
Washington officials could not negotiate on any treaty except
the one Ridge’s Party had agreed to in Washington, Chief
Ross dispatched a delegation to the nation’s capitol.
Before their departure, however, the Georgia State guard invaded
the Cherokee territory, destroyed the presses of the Cherokee
Phoenix and crossed over into Tennessee, where they seized Ross
and all of his papers. John Payne, who was at Ross’ home
collecting cultural and historical information on the Cherokee,
was also seized and both were taken to Georgia. They were never
informed of charges or reasons for arrest and were released
a few days later – the papers and records destroyed.
For two months, tribal members were threatened and bribed to
attend the scheduled December meeting. When the treaty was finally
signed on Dec. 15, 1835, it was estimated that only 700 out
of a population of 17,000 attended. The treaty was signed by
then-Tennessee Governor William Carroll and Rev. J.F. Schermerhorn
as official federal commissioners and twenty Cherokee –
the most prominent tribal members being Major Ridge and Phoenix
publisher Elias Boudinot.
Principal Chief John Ross nor any other elected officials of
the tribe were present at the meeting. In fact, it passed by
only one vote. To those present and to many residents of the
affected states who heard about it later, they knew it was a
rigged meeting and were repulsed that such a small minority
could speak for an entire tribe.
After some more "modifications" by the Senate, the
treaty was formally adopted on May 23, 1836. An official census
taken a year earlier had shown 16, 542 Cherokee living in Alabama,
Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In addition, there were
also 1,592 slaves, and 201 whites intermarried with Cherokee.
The treaty called for their removal to begin two years from
the date of signing, but the official Cherokee Council rejected
the treaty and refused to leave their homes. Seeing the beginnings
of a revolt on his hands, President Andrew Jackson banned all
communication from Ross on the treaty. He then dispatched and
called out state troops to enforce the agreement. His generals,
however, balked at the orders and the Tennessee militia refused
to aid them in disarming the Cherokee. The fact that the tribe
had been sold out by a minority of their people did not set
well with the militia members who had fought alongside the Cherokee
in the War of 1812 and other campaigns.
The grumbling soon reached into the Nation’s capitol and
became a political issue with David Crockett and Henry Clay
leading the opposition. Jackson – seeing it was going to
take armed force to remove the Cherokee – put General Winfield
Scott in charge of the operations, who began to build fortifications
in the Cherokee country to start the round up. When President
Martin Van Buren took over as President, it became clear to
the Cherokee they were going to be removed at gunpoint if necessary.
General Scott dispatched his soldiers into the Cherokee country.
Men were rounded up in fields while working, women and children
were ripped from their homes, and all others were taken where
they stood and marched to the makeshift forts. There they were
crowded together in horrid conditions and processed for removal.
During the round up, a Cherokee named Tsali, "Charley",
his wife, brother and three sons were rounded up and marched
towards the stockades with the others. During the march, a soldier
prodded Tsali’s wife with a bayonet to make her walk faster.
Tsali said something in Cherokee to the others and continued
walking until opportunity presented itself. On a word, the men
sprang on the soldiers and, during the brief struggle, one of
the soldiers was killed. The other soldiers escaped from the
Cherokees and reported what had happened.
General Scott immediately dispatched troops to round up Tsali,
but was finding the Cherokee removal to be more difficult than
he first expected. Hundreds of Cherokee escaped from the stockades
daily and those who didn’t starve to death managed to survive
on roots and what food they could gather in the mountains.
While thousands of soldiers scoured the mountains of Southern
Appalachia for the fugitives, the remainder of the tribe was
formed into marching lines, put in boats and wagons and forced
from the southeast.
During the Cherokee removal of 1838-39 more than 4,000 Cherokee
lost their lives to disease, hunger, and cold. The winter was
remembered and chronicled as one of the worst on record. Thousands
were buried along the trail where they fell and the tribe was
pushed onward to Oklahoma leaving no time to mourn for their
loved ones. The wife of Principal Chief John Ross also lost
her life in the journey to Oklahoma. When Chief Ross arrived,
however, he turned his attention to his people and led them
in building a new home and reforming their government.
Tsali and his family had fled into the mountains with the others
and hid from the soldiers. It was the last straw for removal
politics and the states’ citizens were ready to revolt
themselves against the cruelties they witnessed against the
Cherokee by the Federal soldiers. Tennessee state government
was in turmoil as Governor Sam Houston had left office to join
the Cherokee family, which had adopted him as a child. With
most of the tribe in removal and out of the region, General
Scott issued a make-peace proclamation that stated: "if
the Cherokee would turn over Tsali and his family for punishment,
the rest would be allowed to remain until their case could be
heard by the U.S. Government."
Upon hearing the deal offered, Tsali, his brother, and sons
gave themselves up. The Cherokee knew what "punishment"
Tsali and his family would receive so, in a last act of defiance,
they killed Tsali’s family – sparing the life of his
youngest son – and turned the bodies over to Scott. The
act denied General Scott the chance to make Tsali an example
to the other Cherokee who defied removal. In addition, a Constitutional
order secretly went out from the Tribal National Council to
execute the men who had made the treaty with the U.S. Government.
Major Ridge, his son, Elias Boudinot, and others were murdered
in their homes. The rest fled for their safety. Stand Watie,
who was the brother of Elias Boudinot, was also marked for execution
by the tribe. He stayed put, however, and vowed vengeance against
Chief John Ross.
Both men survived each other’s rage and the feelings against
each other began to soften as the Cherokee began making their
home in Oklahoma.
The tribe went through serious internal conflicts, but finally
resolved their differences. There was some victory in the East
as the fugitive Cherokees negotiated for the land upon which
their Reservation now sits in the Smoky Mountains –preserving
a tribal presence in their ancestral lands. It was little comfort
to the Cherokee. Since the turn of the 18th Century, the tribe
had seen its numbers cut by two thirds. One third had been lost
to smallpox and the other third taken before their eyes in what
became known in American history as the Trail of Tears.
The Gold Rush of 1828 was the first in American history and
written about in later years by Mark Twain who coined the phrase
"There’s gold in them thar hills" as the words
attributed to one of the local miners. $6 million dollars in
gold was mined in the region and a U.S. Mint was ordered built
by Andrew Jackson in Dahlonega to handle the gold. Then-Vice
President John Calhoun also built a hotel in the city. The rush
on North Georgia continued until gold was discovered at Sutters
Mill in California and the Gold Rush of 1949 eclipsed all others
before it. While the mine still operates, it productivity has
been decreasing rapidly since 1915.
No one act shook Tennessee as did the Cherokee Removal. For
many Tennesseans, the Cherokee were seen as everyday citizens
who owned homes, farmed, and raised their families like everyone
else in those days. They had also witnessed how Georgia, with
the aid of the Federal government, was able to take away the
constitutional rights of not only the Cherokee, but also the
missionaries and other American whites who lived there. Many
had family ties with the tribe and had not forgotten their service
to Tennessee and America during the War of 1812 and the Creek
Wars. Numerous members of the militia walked away from the Army
rather than participate in the removal. In fact, the ties were
so deep that many aged Cherokee warriors stopped by the Hermitage
on their removal to meet and shake hands with Andrew Jackson.
While he had virtually sold them up the river, the Cherokee
still remembered him as their old commander and wanted to see
him again. The men they saw as traitors in their own ranks were
the ones they held accountable for the removal. As mentioned
in the story, Sam Houston resigned the Governorship and went
on to become an Agent of the Cherokee. Davy Crockett and numerous
others noted Tennesseans stood in opposition to Jackson’s
illegal removal of the tribe and paid the political price for
doing so. Stand Watie went on to become a respected member of
the tribe and leader. During the War Between the States he led
a brilliant career and achieved the rank of general in the Confederate
Army. In fact, he was the last Confederate General to surrender
to the Union Army. While the Union had sought to secure their
loyalties, Lincoln’s Commanding General in the early part
of the conflict was General Winfield Scott- – a name the
Cherokee did not remember kindly. After the War Between the
States, one battle-hardened Union soldier ironically commented
that what the American Army did to the Cherokee was far worse
than anything he had seen in his career as a soldier in America’s
bloodiest conflict. The Cherokee’s troubles with the U.S.
Government continued as they also suffered through the pains
of Reconstruction with the rest of the South.
The story of Tsali has been told somewhat differently through
the years and is presented in outdoor drama every year in the
"Unto These Hills" production on the Qualla boundary
in Cherokee. It was only recently through the efforts of Cherokee
scholars that the truth of his death was known. Gen. Winfield
Scott, who was a prolific politician, wrote of his accomplishments
in the Cherokee Removal, but often left out the methods in which
he accomplished them. This left many gaps in the history of
the removal, but Cherokee historians continue to gather information
from old journals and government papers that come into their
possession.
The Red Clay Council Grounds were made a Tennessee State Historical
Site and is located in southwest Bradley County. The 263-acre
Park is historically structured to resemble the original grounds
and structures. It is open daily and is one of the most visited
historic parks in East Tennessee.
In 1988, 150 years after the Georgia State Government passed
laws denying the Cherokee citizenship, they reversed the legislation
and presented it to the Eastern Band during the 150th Commemoration
of the
Cherokee Removal.
Since then the Cherokee have rebounded and are today the most
populous tribe in North America.
They are still working on the establishment of a Heritage Trail
marking the route taken by the tribe to Oklahoma. There are
numerous historical markers from the respective states showing
where the tribe passed on their journey, but they would like
to see the trail receive national designation.
In East Tennessee today, The Cherokee now have clear title to
land where their ancient capitol Chota used to sit in Monroe
County, Tennessee. Ceremonies are still held on the site of
the original council house. It is over seen by the Cherokee-owned
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and tours are available of the site.
