TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL – KENTUCKY
In 1838, the United States government forcibly removed over 16,000 Cherokee Indian people from their Appalachian and Southeastern homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, and sent them to Indian Territory (today known as Oklahoma). These men, women and children traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat from 1838-1839. The impact to the Cherokee was devastating with hundreds who died during the march west, and thousands more who perished from the consequences of relocation. This tragic chapter in American and Cherokee history became known as the Trail of Tears, and culminated the implementation of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which mandated the removal of most American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the West.
Encompassing thousands of miles of land and water routes, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail was designated to preserve the story, the routes, and support the associated sites that commemorate the Cherokees’ forced migration. The Trail of Tears covers nine states including Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma. Trail of Tears sites to visit in Kentucky include: Berry’s Ferry and John Berry’s Homesite in Livingston County; Big Spring in Princeton (pictured); Columbus-Belmont State Park; Crider Tavern Complex in Fredonia; Gray’s Inn (Stagecoach Inn) in Todd County; Mantle Rock Preserve near Livingston County; Paducah Waterfront; Radford Farm near Pembroke and Trenton; and Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in Christian County. For full details, see: https://www.nps.gov/trte/planyourvisit/kentucky.htm
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