Driven Up The Waters

The Trail of Tears led groups of Cherokee up the Tennessee River here. The Cherokee were one of the southeastern tribes relocated to Oklahoma under the U.S. Indian removal policy in the 1830s. During removal, most Cherokee went by land, but thousands of others traveled aboard barges and steamboats. Diseases bred in cramped, unsanitary conditions deepened the misery of people already reeling from the loss of their homes, homeland, and most possessions. After learning of these shipboard hardships, Cherokee leaders organized future removals themselves, primarily over land.

Alabama · United States