Trail Where They Cried

Wolf of the NightWolf of the Night

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Full View Trail of Tears Painting"We are now about to take our leave and kind farewell to our native land, the country that the Great Spirit gave our Fathers, we are on the eve of leaving that country that gave us birth...it is with sorrow we are forced by the white man to quit the scenes of our childhood... we bid farewell to it and all we hold dear."

Charles Hicks, Tsalagi (Cherokee) Vice Chief on the Trail of Tears, November 4, 1838

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In 1802 the United States Government signed an agreement with the State of Georgia. Under the terms, the Cherokee were to leave their Georgia homelands & relocate to land granted them in what was then Arkansas Territory. This agreement was not enforced, and in 1832 Gold was found on Cherokee lands, thus beginning the enforcement of the 1802 Georgia agreement & the beginning of the deportation of the Cherokee People.

Leading members of the Cherokee Nation, Elias Boudinot, John Rindge & Major Rindge felt that it would be in the best interest of the Cherokee to negotiate a treaty with the United States, believing that a treaty would help to protect them. The leading Cherokee Chief, John Ross, disagreed as did the majority of the Cherokee People. Regardless of this disagreement by Chief John Ross & the Cherokee People, Boudinot, John Rindge, & Major Rindge signed a secret agreement with the United States Government on December 9, 1835, which ceded all the Cherokee lands to the United States for a payment of $5 Million Dollars. This one act was the Treaty of New Echota {Capitol of the Cherokee Nation} and thus sealed the fate of the Cherokee Nation.

Map of RoutesThe Cherokee were first transferred into camps, and then forced by U.S. Troops on the death march known today as The Trail of Tears. John Ross was bitterly opposed to the false treaty, and led his people to their new home in present day Oklahoma. In the disease infested camps, no provisions were made for shelter or sanitation, the water was polluted & food almost non existent. The journey of deportation began in November of 1838 with winter looming. Fatal diseases were rampant among the deportees including pneumonia, smallpox, measles, malaria, and cholera to name a few. Most made the journey on foot, but a few made the journey by boat.

It became one of the best documented and worst tragedies ever in American History. Approximately 4,000 Cherokee lost their lives, 1/5 of the Cherokee Nation on the Long Walk to Indian Territory. Although the Cherokee Trail of Tears is the most well known such tragedy, the other members of the Five Civilized Tribes suffered much the same fate.
Reference used for article: Illustrated Atlas of Native American History All rights reserved

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Cherokee Rose" align="leftNo better symbol exists of the pain and suffering of the "Place Where They Cried" (Known today as "The Trail of Tears") than the Cherokee Rose. The mothers of the Cherokee grieved so much that the chiefs prayed for a sign to lift the mother's spirits and give them strength to care for their children. From that day forward, a beautiful new flower, a rose, grew wherever a mother's tear fell to the ground. The rose is white, for the mother's tears. It has a gold center, for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem that represent the seven Cherokee clans that made the sad journey. To this day, the Cherokee Rose prospers along the route of the "Trail of Tears". It is now the official flower of the State of Georgia....The name, Cherokee Rose, is a local appellation derived from the Cherokee Indians who widely distributed the plant, which elsewhere is known by the botanical name of rosa sinica. Growing wild the rose is a high climbing shrub, frequently attaining the proportions of a vine, is excessively thorny and generously supplied with leaves of a vivid green. Its blooming time is in the early spring but favorable conditions will produce a second flowering in the fall of the year. In color, the rose is a waxy white and large golden center and the petals are of an exquisite velvety texture. Because of its hardy nature the plant is well adapted to hedge purposes and has been used extensively in this fashion through out the South. Source: Big Eagle

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Map provided by Rose City Net Trail of Tears
Used with Permission

Art by Penny Parker
Creations By Dezign