In 1837 to 1838, two thousand three hundred Cherokee people arrived in waves on this river after being forced from their Tennessee Valley homeland. The steamer Knoxville towed flat boats loaded with Cherokee families through heavy rain and cold wind, and they survived on cornmeal and flour fried in bacon grease. After docking at Decatur Landing, they boarded cramped train cars and continued west by rail. A March 7 journal entry by Dr. Lillybridge recorded that women were sick from exposure during the night because of wet conditions, that a child of John Fields was sick with diarrhea, and that Mary Swimmer was suddenly taken with fainting and spams. Decatur's unusual combination of river and railroad transportation played a role in the Trail of Tears, and the Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroads was the only railway line in the country used to transport Cherokee people during the forced removal.