Alabama Trail of Tears History

Alabama can trace its rich Native American history back at least 10,000 years. By the time Europeans arrived in the state, Native Americans had formed tribal groups that had unique linguistic and cultural characteristics. These tribal groups, such as the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks, had settled all across the state by the time of European arrival. Almost as soon as Europeans began to arrive in the sixteenth-century, Native Americans were subjected to the threat of white explorers and settlers moving onto their tribal homelands.

 

The American War for Independence was particularly devastating for Native Americans in the Southeast. The hostilities, breakout of diseases, and food shortages caused the majority of the Cherokee population to migrate further southwest into what is now northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. As the Cherokee people sought to restabilize following American independence, one of the more important Cherokee towns became known as Turkey’s Town, located in present-day Etowah County, AL. One of our chapter members has shared new research on Turkey’s Town through a new blog. You can follow his discoveries by clicking on this link.

 

Native American removal has its origins in the earliest days of the American republic, beginning with the so-called Plan of Civilization. The Plan of Civilization was a federal development program with origins in the 1790s which sought to teach Native American ranching, farming, and other small industries. The goal of the Plan of Civilization was to assimilate Native American people into American society. Assimilation, in turn, would cause Native Americans to settle on individual homesteads and thus be more willing to sell land to white settlers for farming purposes. The Plan failed to consider the resistance Native American tribes would present when forced to give up their culture. This was especially evident amongst the Creek Nation which was divided in its support of the Civilization Plan. The split in the tribe led to a civil war, called the Creek War which took place between 1813 and 1814. Fearing a rebellion, the United States sent federal troops, led by General Andrew Jackson, on a punitive expedition against hostile Creeks known as “Red Sticks.” The brutal fighting culminated in the bloody defeat of the Red Sticks at the Battle of Tohopeka (Horseshoe Bend). This military conflict had changed the prevailing ideology of how to quickly deal with the “Indian Problem”. Instead of advocating for assimilation many American officials now sought the forcible removal of Native Americans off their tribal lands in the Southeast all the way to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.

When Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828, he declared that Indian removal was going to be a national priority. Just two years later, Congress and Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act. The passage of the act prompted many states to restrict the Native American rights and liberties. In Alabama, state funded roads, bridges, and ferries were built in Cherokee territory and Cherokee laws and customs were made illegal. In 1835, The Treaty of New Echota was passed –without representation by the Cherokee government. This treaty ceded all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River to the American government and promised that all Cherokee would remove within two years’ time.

 

On June 12, 1838, Cherokee removal began in Alabama led by Colonel William C. Lindsay. Five military posts were established in Alabama for the purpose of Cherokee removal: The Alabama posts were Ft. Payne in Rawlingsville (now Fort Payne), Ft. Morrow at Gunter’s Landing (now Guntersville), Ft. Likens in Broomtown Valley, Ft. Lovell at Cedar Bluffs near Turkey Town, and Bellefont, which was a supply depot. The soldiers were ordered to treat the Cherokee humanely as they were ordered to march them to detention camps. The detention camp in Alabama was located at Gunter’s Landing. Wagons were provided for the elderly and infirm, but most were required to walk the 1,000-mile journey to Oklahoma. The Cherokee were removed in groups of 1,000 via overland and water routes which followed the Tennessee River.

 

Conditions on the journey west were miserable. Outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhus, lack of food and water, and poor weather resulted in a dramatic number of casualties on the now infamous Trail of Tears. By the end of December, more than 15,000 members of the Cherokee tribe had been removed from the Southeast. The forts and camps in Alabama were abandoned and sold at public auction.

Suggested Reading

Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab

Written by Steve Inskeep for a broad readership, this book weaves elements of dual biographies of Chief John Ross and President Andrew Jackson to highlight their times and cultural context. Special attention is given to Alabama history before, during, and after Removal.

The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears

Written by Theda Perdue and Michael Green. This short and accessible account of the Trail of Tears provides an excellent introduction to the context and events surrounding Cherokee Removal. Appropriate for high school and college students.

Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians

Originally published in 1932, this book remains the "classic" text about the turbulent history of removal of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations. One of its strengths is the extensive use of primary sources to tell the story.

The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents

Now in its third edition, this primary source anthology edited by historians Theda Perdue and Michael Green provide an essential look at the Trail of Tears from multiple perspectives. It is an excellent primer for those interested in primary source research and contains useful bibliographies. Designed for use in college classrooms.

Rivers of Sand: Creek Indian Emigration, Relocation & Ethnic Cleansing in the American South

Written by AL chapter member Dr. Christopher Haveman, this excellent book chronicles the various stages of removal of the Muscogee (Creek) people in Alabama. This book offers a more expanded understanding of Indian Removal beyond the Cherokee story.

The Cherokee Syllabery: Writing the People's Perseverance

Historian Ellen Cushman documents in this book the life and legacy of Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary, and its importance to Cherokee cultural survival. Sequoyah lived in the Lowrey House in Willstown (modern-day Ft. Payne) when he created the syllabary.

Trail of Tears (Landmarks of the American Mosaic)

(OUT OF PRINT, available as e-book)
A scholarly account of the Trail of Tears written by Cherokee Nation citizen and tribal council member Julia Coates.

Cherokee Removal, Before and After

Series of scholarly essays discussing various aspects of Cherokee culture, politics, and life both before and after the Trail of Tears. Three of the contributors are Cherokee Nation citizens.