Trail of Tears Preservation BookletsThrough a collaborative project with the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and the National Park Service, National Trails office, two preservation booklets were produced that are intended to offer advise and solutions regarding the restoration and preservation of historic log and masonry buildings associated with the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. A number of brick and stone buildings associated with Cherokee removal are located along the Trail of Tears. While the majority of Cherokee lived in modest log dwellings, a wealthy few lived in stately brick homes. Other masonry buildings along the trail belonged to white settlers whose businesses and homes existed at the time of removal. Historic log buildings are one of the most iconic examples of vernacular architecture in the Southeast. In the early 1800s, logs served as a favored construction material for both European Americans and Cherokee. Trailwide ResearchThe Trail of Tears involved mile after mile of hard travel through miserable conditions. Yet detachments bound for Indian Territory did more than just walk. Although time-honored methods like wagons, keelboats, flatboats, and ferries played major roles, some of the technology used to transport Cherokees on the Trail of Tears was actually quite new. The Trail of Tears occurred during a period historians call the “market revolution.” At the beginning of the 1800s, Americans that did not live in major cities were fairly isolated, making what they needed at home or bartering with their neighbors (who might have lived miles away). Farmers that did not live near rivers struggled to get their produce to market. By the 1820s, however, innovations in transportation began connecting people across great distances. In the early 1800s, rivers served as the nation's unofficial highway system. They were by far the most efficient way to move people and goods through the interior United States; however, it was difficult to move against the current. This changed with the invention of steamboats, which went upstream almost as fast as they went downstream. Detachment leaders relied upon a number of different steamboats to move Cherokees along the “water route” of the Trail of Tears. Although not as efficient as river travel, improved roads and turnpikes enabled wagons to carry Cherokees and their belongings towards Indian Territory. Some routes were even “paved” with gravel and widened so that two wagons could comfortably pass one another. The 1820s saw the introduction of railroads, which utilized the same technology as steamboats but could be built almost anywhere. Northern Alabama’s Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroad, one of the earliest railroads in the United States, was essential in moving large numbers of Cherokees to Indian Territory. These innovations did not automatically improve life for all Americans. While the market revolution made it easier for farmers to get their crops to market, it also expanded the South’s cotton economy—which was fueled by the enslavement of Black Americans. Similarly, steamboats, roads, and railroads allowed goods and people to move more freely around the United States; they also, however, facilitated the removal of Cherokees from their homeland.
National Archives Research - Cherokee RemovalA broad range of Trail of Tears historians have long recognized that large quantities of key historical information relating to the Cherokee Removal still lies in various historical archives. There was a general agreement that many of these "buried" records were located in the National Archives in one of its two major Washington, D.C. facilities. To locate the records, a team of five researchers from the Trail of Tears Association’s Oklahoma Chapter applied, in early 2006, for a Challenge Cost Share Program agreement, which would underwrite the travel and per diem costs associated with a week-long trip to investigate National Archives records. Working with recognized archival experts, this team scoured thousands of pages of manuscript materials — primarily from RG 217 Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury) and more specifically Entry 525 (Settled Indian Accounts, 1817-1922). The team photocopied many of these records, organized the copied records, and forwarded copies to both the NPS and to the Sequoyah Research Center at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. The team successfully reapplied for funds in both 2007-8 and conducted similarly successful research trips. After the 2008 season, team member Marybelle Chase prepared a brief trip report in which she noted the circumstances of each summer’s trip and, in three separate reports, detailed the specific boxes and file numbers that the team investigated. National Archives Research - Indian RemovalThis report describes the activities and findings of the Trail of Tears Association’s Oklahoma Chapter research team, which in August 2009 made a week-long trip to the National Archives for its fourth consecutive year. This report, similar to Research Report No. 1 (see above), briefly explains the nature and major accomplishments from the trip. This report also lists the various record groups, entry numbers, and box numbers that the team investigated. As the team notes, some boxes revealed more information than others, and many boxes contained information about tribes other than the Cherokee. The 2009 research investigated records in these groups: RG 75 (Bureau of Indian Affairs), RG 92 (Office of the Quartermaster General), RG 94 (Records of the Adjutant General’s Office), 192 (Office of the Commissary General of Subsistence), and RG 393 (Register of Correspondence with General Winfield Scott, part of Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920) as well as RG 217. National Archives Research - 2010This report describes the activities and findings of the Trail of Tears Association's Oklahoma Chapter research team, which in July 2010 made a week-long trip to the National Archives for its fifth consecutive year. This report, which is also similar to Research Report No. 1 (see above), briefly explains the nature and major accomplishments from the trip. This report lists the various record groups, entry numbers, and box numbers that the team investigated. During this year's investigations, all research was directed at Record Group 217 — Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury. Within that record group, the team investigated five different entry numbers: 465, 481, 482, 525, and 660. The most rewarding entry, however, was Entry 525 — Settled Indian Accounts, 1817-1922. This year, the team was able to utilize a portable scanner, and given this more sophisticated technology, the team was able to scan and copy a relatively large number of appropriate records pertaining to the Trail of Tears Removal, the period immediately beforehand, and its aftermath. |
Last updated: August 3, 2023