The most well-preserved remaining section of the historic Trail of Tears in Arkansas lies along the Memphis to Little Rock Road. Tradition and heritage run deep in the collective souls of the Five Southeastern Tribes, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole. Centuries before European contact, these tribes built communities, developed agricultural economies, and created complex tribal governments. In the early 1800s, the United States expanded westward into lands purchased from France, while eastern states and the federal government sought to satisfy white settlers by negotiating treaties with and passing laws over Native American nations. This process led to the election of Andrew Jackson as President, the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and the removal of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole to present-day Oklahoma. Arkansas played a key role in this removal, and the lands now presented as Village Creek State Park witnessed the passage of members of four of these five tribes.