Travel Along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave old nation. Women cry and make sad wails. Children cry and many men cry, and all look sad like when friends die, but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much. We bury close by Trail.
- Survivor of the Trail of Tears

One of the most memorable trips you can make is to some of the sites on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, which covers 2,200 miles across nine states. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (TTNHT) recognizes the terrible forced removal of the Cherokee people by the U.S. government in 1838. Approximately 17,000 Cherokees and 2,000 of their black slaves were expelled from their homelands in the Southeastern United States and traveled 1,200 miles through Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee to their destination in Oklahoma. Along the way, the Cherokees were relocated in stockades throughout Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina, and in internment camps in Southeastern Tennessee. From the internment camps they were forced to travel, mostly by foot and a combination of horse, wagon and boat, along land water routes to present day Oklahoma. The sad journey was made in harsh conditions that caused illnesses, such as dysentery, resulting in the death of many exiled Cherokees. A study conducted in 1973 estimated that 2,000 died and another in 1984 determined that 8,000 people died. The Cherokee called this tragic journey "Nunna daul Tsuny," which is interpreted as "The Trail Where They Cried."