Trail of Tears

Read notes in Great Grandfather Cleveland Joseph Busbee regarding Trail of Tears. Cherokee removal, also called the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Nation from their lands in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina to the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 4,000 Cherokees.[1] This number 4000 is always associated with the Cherokee Removal to emphasise suffering and death, but the actual toll was likely half that figure. Army officers documented each group of Cherokees as they left their homeland and as each group arrived in Indian Territory. Dr. Elizur Butler in 1838 estimated that perhaps 4000 Cherokees would perish during the progress, but admitted he did not know the numbers in either Army or tribal records. In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nu na da ul tsun yi (the place where they cried), another term is Tlo va sa (our removal). However, this phrase was not used by Cherokees at the time, and seems to be of Choctaw origin. Note that the Cherokees were not the only Native Americans to emigrate as a result of the Indian Removal efforts. Native Americans were not only removed from the American South but also from the North, Midwest, Southwest, and Plains regions. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks (Muskogee) emigrated reluctantly. The Seminoles in Florida resisted Removal by guerrilla warfare with the United States Armyy for decades (1817-1850). Ultimately, some Seminoles remained in their Florida home country, while others were transported to Indian Territory in shackles. In contrast, the Cherokees resisted Removal by hiring lawyers. They won their case before the U.S. Supreme Court (Worcester v. State of Georgia), but were forced to emigrate anyway.