The Trail of Tears
In 1838, the majority of the Cherokees, approximately 12,000, were forced onto the “Trail of tears”. Only about 8,000 made it to the new Cherokee Nation - what is now called Tehlequah, Oklahoma. After being imprisoned for several months in the stockades, many of the Cherokee died or became ill from disease, exposure and malnutrition. The Cherokees oversaw all their own removal, forming detachments along the 800 mile journey to the West. It was the harshest of winters and disease was rampant; food and shelter scares. “The soldiers came and took us from our home. They first surrounded our house and they took the mare while we were it work in the fields and they drove us out of doors and did not permit us to take anything with us, not even a second change of clothes. They … drove us off to a fort that was built at New Echota.” – Oo-loo-cha, widow of Sweetwater.
Dedicated on July 19, 2014
Sponsor: Roswell Historical Society
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.