NA Research (2)

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Katie Stringer

Spring 2011

Native American History

Removal Research Paper

From the time that European explorers and settlers first set foot on the New World,

a clash between cultures was inevitable. Various Europeans nations dealt with contact among

native groups in different ways, but once the English established a hold on the territories, the

question of land ownership became a challenge that affected everyone. The new United

States was tasked with keeping all groups, including European-American settlers, government

officials and Native people, mollified. Through a complex chain of events, almost every tribe

was eventually removed from its traditional homeland. Though most groups were ultimately

forced from their land, many scholars have focused on southeastern tribes who were involved

in what is called many times called The Trail of Tears.

The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek and Choctaw were among the groups that were

removed along the various routes throughout the southeast. The designation Trail of Tears

refers only to the Cherokee removal to Oklahoma. The trails snaked all across the southeast,

but bands of each tribe made their way through the Memphis area along their way to present-

day Oklahoma and other western territories. The impact of Indian people on the land and


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Stringer 2people of Memphis as well as the Native experiences in the Memphis area are explored in the

following essay.

These four tribes are similar in many ways, which is one reason they, along with the

Seminoles, have been called the Five Civilized Tribes. However, they are also very different

and include intricacies and variations among their people that must be acknowledged. Often

they will be addressed generally, but the diversity is integral to understanding their removal

experiences.

The exhibit resulting from this research will address questions of who was responsible

who were at fault for this removal experience, why it happened at all, how it could have

possibly been prevented from happening, and the impact that the removal period has had on

the world today. An overview of the groups and people involved will also be presented for

exhibition at a Memphis Native American History and Archaeological museum, the C.H.

Nash Museum at Chucalissa.

Removal of the Native Peoples of North America

After the discovery of the North American continent by Europeans and the

discovery of valuable land and resources that were available there, it was only a matter of time

that the native people who were settled there would be pushed out to make room for

European settlers and traders. Settlers from France, England, and Spain were particularly


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Stringer 3impactful on the path to removal; each of these groups had a distinct relationship with the

native peoples.

Once the English came forth as the forerunners for control of the North American

continent it was clear that the position of Native Americans was precarious. The English

valued land for both status and economic survival, and therefore many British moved to the

new continent to acquire land and prestige. Many did not think about the people who had

already claimed or inhabited the land. The English did not see the Indians as people worthy of

the land because they did not meet the cultural standards of Europeans, which included

writing, Christian religion, and specific gender roles.

As North America was transformed into the United States through wars, treaties, and

proclamations, the Indians were often ignored or pushed aside. With the election of Andrew

Jackson as President of the United States, the welfare of Indians and Indian policy became

most important issues. Andrew Jackson was seen by many to be the common man and friend

to the people when he was elected President of the United States in 1828. His achievements

up to that point in battles and legislation led to his popularity with settlers and common

European-American people. His friendship with the common man and small farmers in

particular included some native peoples prior to his election, but that connection would be

tested with his removal policies. In his inaugural address in 1829 he first mentioned his plans


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Stringer 4for Indian Removal and the passage of the Indian Removal Act, which was eventually passed

in 1830.1 Scholars of Jacksons Indian Removal Act estimate that as many as 100,000 Native

Americans were removed to the west in the early 1800s.2

An example of European-American views of Indian peoples is found in the memoir of

an early settler, Zillah Haynie Brandon. The primary source dates from 1830-1838 and

encompasses the experience of the Cherokee Nation with the 1835 Treaty of New Echota

and 1838 removal process.3 Her memoirs show a typical mindset of the 1830s that all Indians

were the same, and that Indian warriors and farmers had no distinct differences. She also

prescribed to the common nineteenth century idea of racial inferiority.4 Perhaps most

powerful is her description of her familys arrival at their new home in December of 1835.

She explains, the weather was excessively cold we arrived at our place of destination [and]

found a family of Indians occupying our house, which, by the way, was a very poor one

without floor or loft. The Indians set about moving out, tho, with looks as magisterial as if

1 Anthony F. C. Wallace, The Long Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians (New York: Hill and Wang,

1993), 5.

2Russell Thornton, Cherokee Population Losses During the Trail of Tears: A New Perspective and a New

Estimate,Ethnohistory 31, no. 4 (Autumn 1984): 289.

3Theda Perdue and Michael Green, The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford

Books of St. Martins Press, 1995), 84.

4Ibid.


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Stringer 5they had been kings seated upon thrones in royal robes

5She does not seem at all

concerned about displacing the family that was inhabiting the home into the cold environment

because she felt was hers because the government had promised the land to European-

American families. This is just one example of removal attempts and actions against the

Cherokee people that would eventually develop into their Trail of Tears.

The Cherokee were the last to be removed, and forcibly, but the Chickasaw, Choctaw

and Creeks were also removed from their homes. The Chicasaw, Choctaw, and Creeks

moved west of their own accord, but the decision to move was not a choice they made lightly

so much as the last resort to save their lives and families.6 Each distinct group was made up of

many varied people and their opinions, which makes interpretation difficult. The experiences

of each of these groups are explored below.

The Cherokee Experience

The Cherokee were the first to call their trek from their homes in the east to lands

west of the Mississippi River the Trail of Tears. According to many scholars, this ultimate

removal of all native peoples from the east was not inevitable. As Amy Sturgis points out, if

the United States had followed their own laws regarding treaties and judicial cases then

5Ibid., 86.

6Amy H. Sturgis, The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007), 5.


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Stringer 6perhaps the Trail of Tears would not have transpired in the tragic way that it did.

7The court

cases and divisions among Cherokee people regarding United States policy are integral to the

understanding of the removal of this group of people.

Cherokee lands once included areas from the Ohio River to central Georgia, and from

Virginian and Carolinian mountains through Tennessee to Alabama.8 The Cherokee were

very successful at adapting to culture change; many adopted European customs with ease and

acceptance. They adopted the English language in many cases, and they published a

newspaper, The Phoenix, which was presented in both Cherokee and English. Many of the

Cherokee people adopted European farming techniques, and some even owned slaves and

plantations. In contrast to several other groups, many Cherokee accepted the idea of private

property ownership. These attempts at acculturation coupled with Cherokee support of

British causes in the American Revolution and subsequent wars were thought by many to be

adequate protection against future removal and persecution.9

Removal stemmed from several events, particularly the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Additionally, the refusal by President Andrew Jackson to recognize the 1832 court case

7 Sturgis, xv.

8Thornton, 289.

9Sturgis,10.


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Stringer 7Worcester v. Georgiaaccelerated the eventual elimination of native peoples in the southern

United States. After the Treaty of New Echota in 1836, Cherokee people were given two

years to remove themselves from their homes, and after 1838 they would be forcibly removed

by the United States government. Once the timeline had been reached, the United States had

an excuse to go in and remove the Cherokee people by force to the Indian Territory of the

west.10

The Cherokee people must not be viewed as a comprehensive group of people who all

agreed on the same positions of removal. Motivations varied among the members, and

pressures on leaders within their communities led some to make decisions that the others felt

betrayed their interests as a people. This is particularly evidenced by The Treaty Party, a

group of Cherokees including Elias Boudinot, his uncle, Major Ridge, and cousin John

Ridge.11 After the Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830, the status of the Cherokee Nation

was in question due to previous treaties and court cases. In spite of the Cherokee success with

the Georgia v Worcestercase, Jackson did not honor the decision made by the Supreme Court

in favor of Cherokees. Cherokee Chief Ross attempted to encourage his people to oppose

removal and believed that the American people would eventually recognize Cherokee

10Sturgis, 3.

11Theda Perdue and Michael Green, The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears (New York: The Penguin

Group: 2007), 91.


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Stringer 8national sovereignty.

12Ridge and Boudinot were opposed to this optimistic policy, and they

thought it was useless as a means of resistance. In 1833, Ross proposed amalgamation and the

dissolving of the Cherokee Nation after a certain number of years as a solution to their

problems and removal. Ridge was appalled with the idea and found it completely

unacceptable; Jackson rejected the idea as well.13

In 1835, a treaty party headed by Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot

convened at New Echota.14 The treaty required the Cherokee people to give up lands in the

east and move west to a new territory. The United States promised to pay $5 million,

compensate the Cherokee for their farms and houses they would leave behind, and pay the

costs of removal among other things. The Cherokee were given two years to complete their

removal to the western territory.15 Chief Ross rejected the treaty and did not recognize it as

valid; he saw those who did sign it as traitors who had gathered illegally to sign an invalid

treaty. The treaty, which affected all Cherokee people, was signed only by a small portion of

the tribe, and not all Cherokees accepted it.16

Ridge and Boudinot knew they were breaking

12Ibid., 98.

13 Ibid., 103.

14Ibid., 112.

15Ibid.

16Ibid., 113.


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Stringer 9Cherokee law when they signed the treaty, and they were later killed in the western territory

for treason.17

After the two year period set forth in the Treaty of New Echota had passed, the

United States government began a campaign of forced removal of the Cherokee people. From

1838-1839, it has long been believed that around 4,000 of the 15,000 Cherokee people who

were removed to Oklahoma died. Recent statistics suggest that this number may be as high as

8,000 deaths.18 During removal the Cherokee experienced the separation of families,

starvation, exposure, illness and other horrors.19

Dr. G.S. Townsend was one European-American physician who traveled with the

Cherokee from Tennessee to Indian Territory from October to December 1837. An

attachment to his reports to the U.S. government entitled, An Abstract of the Number of

Deaths has survived, and from it scholars are able to gain information about life and death on

the Trail of Tears.20 In this list are included eleven children and four adults who died from

cholera, convulsions, spasms, dysentery, typhus fever or inflammation of the lungs.21

The

17Ibid., 114.

18 Sturgis, 2.

19Sturgis, 4.

20Vicki Rozema, ed. Voices from the Trail of Tears (Winston-Salem: john F. Blair, publisher, 2003), 94.

21Ibid.


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Stringer 10elderly and children were most susceptible to disease and death, and in Townsends group the

mortality rate was around 4%, which was significantly lower than the number of deaths

experienced by those on northern routes.22

Removal experiences varied across the southeast

along routes to Indian Territory, but those experiences were so devastating to families and the

Cherokee as a whole that the designation Trail of Tears seems more than appropriate.

The Chickasaw Experience

Chickasaw people inhabited the areas that would become the state of Mississippi near

the Mississippi River prior to United States expansion into those areas. Their origin myths

place them, with the Choctaw, at an undefined area trans-Mississippi River.23

They lived in

homes made of wet mud and long grasses, and their winter homes included fire pits. Prior to

European contact their clothes were made of animal skins, and after contact they used

European woven cloths. Similar many other groups in the southeast, the Chickasaw were

politically organized into family clans with a head man of the village. 24

22Ibid., 95.

23James R. Atkinson, Splendid Land, Splendid People: The Chickasaw Indians to Removal (Tuscaloosa:

University of Alabama Press, 2004), 1.

24Ibid., 3.


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Stringer 11As with the other southeastern Indian tribes, the Chickasaw would eventually be

removed west to Indian Territory to make way for European-American settlers in the new

United States. Indian policies over time claimed to first protect Indian rights, restrict

European-American access to the land, regulate Indian trade, control the trade of alcohol, and

encourage education and civilization among Indian peoples.25

Over time the policy would change to one of Indian Removal under Andrew Jackson.

In 1830 twenty-one Chickasaw men attended a meeting held by Jackson to discuss Indian

removal to lands in the west. The men were told that they must either give up their lands and

tribal customs under the state or move to a territory set aside for them in Indian Territory.

They were promised, however, compensation for their improved lands in Mississippi,

payment for the cost of removal, land for growing crops, and support for twelve months in

their new territory.26 As Chickasaw prepared for their trek west, A.M.M. Upshaw of Pulaski,

Tennessee was named superintendent of the removal expedition in 1837.27 Their experiences

through Memphis are explored below.

The Choctaw Experience

25Ibid., 180.

26Grant Foreman,Indian Removal (Oklahoma City: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 193.

27Ibid., 204.


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Stringer 12The Choctaw are included in the popular designation of civilized tribes because of

their adaptation to European culture after contact. They encountered Hernando de Soto

when he ventured throughout the Mississippi River Valley in the sixteenth century, and they

actively resisted the Spanish invasion. Choctaw culture was influenced by Christianity and

missionaries more than any of the otherCivilized Tribes, and they also adopted several

other cultural traits of Europeans.28

When the Choctaws encountered the French in Louisiana they were susceptible to

their diseases, particularly smallpox. Additionally, an emphasis on the rum trade and a

disregard for the effects of alcohol on Choctaws led to alcoholism among the Choctaw people.

They also fell victim to Creek and Chickasaw enemies who had weapons supplied by English

in the Atlantic coastal colonies. The French later sought an alliance with the Choctaw against

the English and their colonial expansion.29 The tensions between the Choctaw and the Creek

and Chickasaw tribes grew because the later sided with the British in the many wars leading up

to the English stronghold on America. Choctaw relations with the French continued to be

28Clara Sue Kidwell and Charles Roberts, The Choctaws: A Critical Bibliography (Bloomington, IN: Indiana

University Press, 2000), vii.

29Kidwell and Roberts, 8.


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Stringer 13mutually beneficial, and they allied themselves for both trade and war, particularly in

Louisiana.30

In 1763, the cession of Louisiana territory to Spain and the south-eastern part of what

would become the United States to Great Britain created a precarious position for the

Choctaws. The native peoples could no longer play the two European powers against each

other and were placed under the control of the British colonial government. The

Revolutionary War and the resulting Proclamation of 1783 placed the Choctaw people under

yet another nation: the new United States of America.31

As more settlers poured into the new United States from Europe, the need for space

and land threatened the Choctaws. English emphasis on land ownership as a means of status

elevated the risk posed to native peoples, including the Choctaw. The first legislation that

involved Choctaw and United States interests was the Treaty of Hopewell in 1786. The

treaty gave Congress full control over trade with the Choctaw.32

The Treaty of Fort Adams in 1801 gave the United States over 2.5 million acres of

Choctaw land, and in exchange the Choctaw received around $2,000 and various goods.





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Stringer 14They were motivated to trade at such a low cost because of pressure by the United States on

Choctaw economy and politics.33 The treaty was also accepted by the Choctaw because they

believed that if they ceded some land they would be free from any more pressure by settlers on

their remaining land.34 As the Choctaw signed in hopes of giving up a portion of their land to

keep the rest, however, more European-Americans looking for land were still pouring into

North America. The treaties continued, and Choctaw lands continued to be taken to satisfy

the need for land for new European settlers and their slaves.

As the Choctaw and settlers came into more frequent contact, the clash that resulted

from the close contact led to cultural exchange. Missionaries who were tasked with

converting Choctaw to Christianity were not overly successful in their transformations of

Choctaw culture. Like other members of the Civilized Tribes, the Choctaw did take

advantage of the opportunity to educate their children through missionary schools. Cultural

exchange was exacerbated by the schools and contact with European-Americans who taught

Choctaw children. One of the biggest changes was the transformation of agriculture from a

womans sphere to the responsibility of men, as in European culture.35

33 Kidwell and Roberts, 18.




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Stringer 15Matrilineal inheritance and matrifocal culture were replaced by traditional European

values that focused on men as the powerful leaders of social and economic culture. Choctaw

womens rights were striped from them as men were made heads of household. Even though

traditional Choctaw culture was threatened by Europeans, semblances of it remained in the

clan system even after the Choctaw were removed west of the Mississippi River.36

In 1817, when Mississippi became a state, the government took away all tribal rights in

the state in spite ofnative residents adoption of European farming techniques and other

cultural aspects.37 Just as the Cherokee became divided over removal, the Choctaw struggled

internally with the decision to trade land in the east for land west of the Mississippi.38

Memphis, Tennessee and Indian Removal to the West

Memphis itself was built upon the Chickasaw Bluffs in Tennessee along the Mississippi

River. As a port town between traditional native lands and the new Indian Territory in

present-day Oklahoma it was used as a crossing point by many of the people moving along the

Indian removal routes, including the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Bands of people from

the four groups focused on in this essay, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek, traveled

36 Kidwell and Roberts, 23.




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Stringer 16through Memphis on their way to Arkansas, and the removal routs became a kind of trail of

tears for each.39 The Sequoyah Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock

provides information about the removal process through Memphis which was invaluable to

research into this topic.40

Memphis location on the Mississippi River provided an easy location to move large

quantities of food and supplies quickly to the supply depots set up for Chickasaw removal.41

Removal took Cherokee people by Memphis, and some groups stopped there for short

periods of time on their journey from Tennessee to Arkansas. Approximately 250 travelers

aboard the steamship Smelterpassed Memphis in April of 1838, and Lt. Edward Deas, an

American officer who journeyed with groups during Indian removal throughout the southeast,

recalled that, The Boats reached the mouth of the Ohio about midnight and have since

continued to run stopping twice to wood in daylight. We passed Memphis this evening

between 9 & 10 Oclock, but did not land. A small boat was and ashore to carry letters and

39Amanda L. Paige, Memphis, Tennessee, on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site Report,

Sequoyah Research Center,

http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_repo

rt.htm (accessed 25 March 2011).

40Paige, Memphis, Tennessee, on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site Report.

41Ibid.


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Stringer 17procure provisions.

42Another group of Cherokee who did not accept the terms of John

Rosss treaty party led by John Bell went through Memphis overland via Raleigh, Tennessee

in November of 1838; more information is not readily found about this group other than their

presence in the Memphis area.43

Chickasaw removal through Memphis impacted both European-Americans and

Chicksaw peoples. During the summer of 1837 the first group of Chickasaw crossed the

Mississippi River at Memphis in order to continue overland to Indian Territory in the west.

People, their goods, and their animals were ferried across the river, and in January 1838,

A.M.M. Upshaw, who was in charge of their removal, believed that most of the Chickasaw

were removed. In June and July of 1838 a group of Chickasaw camped near Memphis before

crossing the Mississippi. November saw the last group of around 300 Chickasaw cross the

Mississippi River at Memphis.44 A witness explained in the New York Observerthat as the

Chickasaw traveled through Memphis, they presented a handsome appearance, being nearly

42Edward Deas, Journal of Emigration, June 1838 (D217), Special Case File 249, National Archives Microfilm

PublicationsMicrocopy 547, Roll 69. As quoted at accessed March 25, 2011.

43 Amanda L. Paige, Fuller L. Bumpers, and Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., The North Little Rock Site on the Trail of

Tears National Historic Trail: Historical Contexts Report(Little Rock: American Native Press

Archives, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2003), 49.

44Amanda L. Paige, Memphis, Tennessee, on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site Report.
http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indiaan_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indiaan_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indiaan_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indiaan_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indiaan_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htm


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Stringer 18all mounted, and, with few exceptions, well dressed in their national costume not a drunken

Indian, we believe, was seen in the company.45

Choctaw removal through Memphis was documented in newspapers and personal

accounts. According to the Arkansas Gazettefrom December 31, 1831 as reported by the

Sequoyah Research Center, in 1831 twenty Choctaw people with around one hundred horses

crossed into Mississippi from Memphis.46 During the winter of 1831-1832 another group of

Choctaw people came through Memphis on their way to Indian Territory. When they found

that the way was impassable they commissioned a steamboat for travel across the Mississippi.47

The travelogue of Alexis de Toqueville records the crossing of this group in Democracy in

America:

Here began a scene which, in truth, had something lamentable about it.

The Indians advanced mournfully toward the bank. First they had theirhorses go aboard; several of them little accustomed to the forms of civilized

life, took fright and plunged into the Mississip[p]i, from which they could

be pulled out only with difficulty. Then came the men who, according to

ordinary habits, carried only their arms; then the women carrying their

children attached to their backs or wrapped in the blankets they wore; they

were, besides, burdened down with loads containing their whole wealth.

Finally the old people were led on. Among them was a woman 110 years

old. I have never seen a more appalling shape. She was naked save for a

covering which left visible, at a thousand places, the most emaciated figure

45Foreman, 206.


47Paige, et al., 20.


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Stringer 19

imaginable. She was escorted by two or three generations of grandchildren.

To leave one's country at that age to seek one's fortune in a foreign land,

what misery! Among the old people there was a young girl who had

broken her arm a week before; for want of care the arm had been frozen

below the fracture. Yet she had to follow the common journey When

everything was on board the dogs approached the bank; but they refused to

enter the vessel and began howling frightfully. Their masters had to bring

them on by force. In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and

destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one

couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung.48

Many other first-hand accounts of Choctaw crossings exist. The destitute condition of

Choctaw people as they moved through Memphis is shown in the story by a Chickasaw

missionary who witnessed the weary travelers pass through Chickasaw lands bear Memphis:

A number of small companies have since passed, who were detained

on the way by loss of horses and other causes. No provision could be

made for them, and consequently they were, in some instances, very

destitute. One party came to us and begged an ear of corn apiece, to

relieve, for a season, their sufferings. Another party camped in the

woods near us, about three weeks ago, and that night a storm of hail

and sleet commenced, which was followed, in a day or two, with a

heavy fall of snow. For more than two weeks there was continued

freezing and colder weather than I have ever seen in this climate.

During the whole of this time these suffering people were lying at

their camp, without any shelter, and with very little provision. Much

suffering was to be expected in the removal of the Choctaws, but if I

am to judge from what I have seen and heard, the half was not

anticipated.49

48 Alexis de Tocqueville,Democracy in America; translated, edited, and with an introduction by Harvey C.

Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2000), 340.



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Stringer 20

Groups that traveled by steamboat from Memphis were susceptible to outbreaks of cholera,

but even those who traveled overland sometimes contracted the disease and died, as well.

Traveling in large groups across rough terrain made almost everyone vulnerable to disease and

exhaustion, and many deaths occurred because of medical neglect.50

Creek people also took routes near Memphis during their removal experiences to the

western Indian Territory. Unlike the other groups, instead of government-led removal

civilians were responsible for removing Creek peoples; army officers were present with each

group during their removal, however. One group traveling overland from Tuscaloosa,

Alabama stopped in Memphis during the bitter cold winter months. John Page, the army

officer traveling with the Creeks, wrote that, I have to stop the wagons to take the children

out and warm them and put them back again 6 or 7 times a day. I send ahead and have fires

built for this purpose. I wrap them in tents and anything I can get hold of to keep them from

freezing."51

Once in Memphis the group was split into two; one group went overland while

the other continued the journey by boat.52 Information about the two groups after the split is

50Paige, et al.,North Little Rock Site, 21.

51Quoted from Grant Foreman,Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972), 127.

52Paige et al.,North Little Rock Site, 24.


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Stringer 21not clear, but it is likely that their routes either overland or by boat were difficult and

unpleasant for all involved.

In 1836 a huge group of Creeks, possibly numbering around 13,000, camped on the

banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis while they waited to be ferried across to their new

homes in the West.53 Lt. Sprague who was traveling with the natives wrote a letter to George

Gibson in October of 1836 which told of their experiences in Memphis:

At Memphis we remained from the 9th of October until the 27th.

The Mississippi was here to be crossed, and the Company were

much disappointed in not finding their steam boats as they

anticipated. The boats, however, arrived on the 11th; Captain

Batemans party were the first to cross, Lieutenant Scrivens was the

second, and my own the third, Lieutenant Deas and Mr. Campbells

parties were in the rear. The assembly of thirteen thousand Indians at

one point, necessarily made our movements slow. This detention

was of advantage to the Indians as it gave them rest and afforded thesick and feeble an opportunity to recover. The required rations were

furnished them regularly within this time, and they all conducted

with the greatest propriety. The Common Council of the City

passed an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor, which added

greatly to their comfort, and to the peace and security of the

citizens.54

53Paige, Memphis, Tennessee,on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site Report.

54Lt. J. T. Sprague to C. A. Harris, April 1, 1837 (Creek Emigration S249-37), National Archives Microfilm

PublicationsMicrocopy M234, Roll 238. As quoted at

http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_repo

rt.htm
http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htmhttp://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis/memphis_report.htm


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Stringer 22Another firsthand account of removal experiences was written in John Davidsons diary. After

encountering Lt. Edward Deas and his group, he wrote, Memphis is a miserable looking

place. And its Egyptian City name renders it contemptible. I saw here an encampment of

about 5000 Indians. They are mostly Creeks, whom the Government are removing into

Arkansas. I have just walked through their Camp. They are indeed a miserable looking set of

beings.55

Memphis today still shows the impact that the groups who traveled through the area

had and still have. Roads used are still traveled today and some roads and areas of town even

bear the names of those groups. Poplar Avenue, which is one of the busiest roads in the

metropolitan area, was part of the Cherokee Trail in the 1830s.56

Impacts and Consequences

Removal campaigns changed the lives of Native Americans forever. Once the

government made the decision to forcibly remove entire groups of people they also changed

their view of these people. Even after years of acculturation and assimilation attempts, the

55A Journey Through the South in 1836: Diary of James D. Davidson,"Journal of Southern History 1

(August 1935), 355.

56Memphis Region Sourcebook: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Creating a Strategic Regional Future; the

Report of the Governor's Alliance for Regional Excellence (Memphis: Memphis Area Chamber of

Commerce, 2001).


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Stringer 23United States removal of people showed the prevalent opinion of the Native Americans as

savages and barbarians rather than noble savages who could be trained and used.57

Jeffersonian politics also gave way to Jacksonian America with the advent of Indian

Removal policies. Jeffersons ideal of a nation of yeoman farmers gave way to an extreme

view of Manifest Destiny by Jackson which would lead to even more expansion and

oppression by later leaders. Jackson also exemplified self-governance and anti-authoritarian

rule which was evident throughout Jacksonian America.58

Removal in the south-eastern United States would also pave the way for removal of

groups west of the Mississippi River. Jacksonian Manifest Destiny also accelerated the later

removal of groups in the west. Groups that already claimed the land to which the Five

Civilized Tribes were removed to were displaced and affected by Indian Removal as well.

The Exhibit

The information contained within this research paper will be used in the development

of an exhibit for the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa in Memphis. The exhibit will be on

display in the main museum hall and will consist mainly of three banners with text,

photographs, and other graphics. In addition, a tri-fold informational brochure including a

57Sturgis, 6.

58Sturgis, 8.


24/26

Stringer 24bibliography will be available for visitors who wish to learn more about the subject and the

experiences of removal. As is the case with many exhibits, information must be chosen for the

visitor that will be both informative but also at a level which the average exhibit visitor will

enjoy and understand.


25/26

Stringer 25

Works Cited

A Journey Through the South in 1836: Diary of James D. Davidson."Journal of Southern

History1 (August 1935).

Atkinson, James R. Splendid Land, Splendid People: The Chickasaw Indians to Removal.

Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2004).

deTocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America; translated, edited, and with an introduction

by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 2000.

Foreman, Grant, ed. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians.

Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972.

Kidwell, Clara Sue and Charles Roberts. The Choctaws: A Critical Bibliography.

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000.

Lt. J. T. Sprague to C. A. Harris, April 1, 1837. Creek Emigration S249-37. Washington,

D.C.: National Archives Microfilm Publications. Microcopy M234, Roll 238.

Memphis Region Sourcebook: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Creating a StrategicRegional Future; the Report of the Governor's Alliance for Regional Excellence.

Memphis: Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce, 2001.

Paige, Amanda L. Memphis, Tennessee, on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site

Report. Sequoyah Research Center.

http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/memphis

/memphis_report.htm (accessed 25 March 2011).

Paige, Amanda L. Fuller L. Bumpers, and Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr. The North Little Rock Site

on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: Historical Contexts Report. Little

Rock: American Native Press Archives, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2003.


26/26

Stringer 26Paige, Amanda L., Fuller L. Bumpers, and Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr. The North Little Rock Site

on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: Historical Contexts Report. Little Rock:

American Native Press Archives, 2003.

Rozema, Vicki ed. Voices from the Trail of Tears. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, publisher,

2003.

Sturgis, Amy H. The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,

2007.

Thornton, Russell. Cherokee Population Losses During the Trail of Tears: A New

Perspective and a New Estimate. Ethnohistory31, no. 4 (1984): 289-300.

Wallace, Anthony F. C. The Long Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. New York:

Hill and Wang, 1993.

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