Sunday, October 27, 2013 marked the official ribbon cutting ceremony to dedicate the Trail of Tears Memorial at Blythes Ferry, Tennessee. After 30 years of planning, funding and development the Memorial Plaza and Visitor Center are now open to the public. Today this quiet peaceful spot provides a visual reminder of the tragedy that was forced on these first Americans. The attached photographs are from the dedication ceremony. Members of the Rhea-Craig DAR attended the ceremony.
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| Members of the Rhea Craig Chapter of the DAR joined by Meigs County, TN Mayor Garland Lankford. Barbara McKeel, Dana Myers, Caren Lorelle, Marcia Long, Carrie Bright, Susan Pluff. |
The history of the Trail of Tears began in 1830 when President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This law provided for the forcible removal of thousands of Cherokee and other Native American tribes from their homes in Eastern Tennessee to a new Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The journey began in 1838 when the Cherokees were rounded up into stockades where they were kept for months before crossing the Tennessee River at Blythes Ferry. It is estimated that between 4000 and 8000 Cherokees died before this journey ended in Oklahoma.
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| One of the seven panels with names of 2,535 Cherokee households forced from their homes. The names in all caps are their Cherokee names, the ones capitalized with lower case are English names, the numbers represent the members of the named family. |
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| Close-up of part of a panel. |
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