Post by Okwes on Feb 9, 2007 11:52:33 GMT -5
Resolution passed to recognize Trail of Tears
by jason lee, the southern
The Illinois General Assembly took a step to memorialize a
cross-country trail on which more than 4,000 Cherokee Indians died
more than 160 years ago.
The legislature recently passed a resolution designating Illinois 146
as a historic route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, which includes
2,220 miles of land and water routes, according to the National Park
Service.
State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, sponsor of the resolution, said
Illinois 146 follows a portion of the trail, which "is part of our
nation's history."
"It is a way to honor those who died along the route and to educate
tourists and residents interested in learning about the plight of the
Cherokee Indians," Bost said.
In May 1838, federal troops and state militias rounded up about 16,000
Cherokee Indians who resisted leaving their land. They were forced to
march more than 800 miles through parts of Alabama, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Illinois and Georgia to territory in what is now Oklahoma.
In December 1838, the Cherokees arrived in Southern Illinois at
Golconda. Diseases spread through the tribe, including small pox.
"While in Southern Illinois, several of the Cherokee were murdered by
locals who later sued the federal government for money to bury the
murdered Cherokees," Bost said. "They lost and the bodies were thrown
in shallow, unmarked graves near Brownfield, where a monument of the
Trail of Tears now stands."
About one-quarter of the Cherokees who made the journey died of
hunger, exhaustion and illness. The conditions along the trails were
so extreme that the waterways would freeze over during the winter.
"Many died living in what is now the Trail of Tears State Forest
because floating ice on the Mississippi made it impossible to cross.
Some were sold into slavery and a few escaped," Bost said.
President Bush recently signed into law the Trail of Tears Study Act,
directing the National Park Service to research routes along the trek.
The study could lead to expansion of the historic trail, originally
designated in 1987 by Congress.
Jack Baker, president of the Trail of Tears Association, said moves to
memorialize and better understand the trail are steps forward for the
Cherokee Nation.
"It gives our Cherokee people a more thorough understanding of our
removal," Baker said. "While we were forcibly removed, we did adapt to
our new surroundings. We've survived and have prospered. We are now a
nation of over 250,000 citizens."
Bost said the Illinois Department of Transportation would erect
plaques and signs marking Illinois 149 as part of the historic Trail
of Tears.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.
by jason lee, the southern
The Illinois General Assembly took a step to memorialize a
cross-country trail on which more than 4,000 Cherokee Indians died
more than 160 years ago.
The legislature recently passed a resolution designating Illinois 146
as a historic route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, which includes
2,220 miles of land and water routes, according to the National Park
Service.
State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, sponsor of the resolution, said
Illinois 146 follows a portion of the trail, which "is part of our
nation's history."
"It is a way to honor those who died along the route and to educate
tourists and residents interested in learning about the plight of the
Cherokee Indians," Bost said.
In May 1838, federal troops and state militias rounded up about 16,000
Cherokee Indians who resisted leaving their land. They were forced to
march more than 800 miles through parts of Alabama, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Illinois and Georgia to territory in what is now Oklahoma.
In December 1838, the Cherokees arrived in Southern Illinois at
Golconda. Diseases spread through the tribe, including small pox.
"While in Southern Illinois, several of the Cherokee were murdered by
locals who later sued the federal government for money to bury the
murdered Cherokees," Bost said. "They lost and the bodies were thrown
in shallow, unmarked graves near Brownfield, where a monument of the
Trail of Tears now stands."
About one-quarter of the Cherokees who made the journey died of
hunger, exhaustion and illness. The conditions along the trails were
so extreme that the waterways would freeze over during the winter.
"Many died living in what is now the Trail of Tears State Forest
because floating ice on the Mississippi made it impossible to cross.
Some were sold into slavery and a few escaped," Bost said.
President Bush recently signed into law the Trail of Tears Study Act,
directing the National Park Service to research routes along the trek.
The study could lead to expansion of the historic trail, originally
designated in 1987 by Congress.
Jack Baker, president of the Trail of Tears Association, said moves to
memorialize and better understand the trail are steps forward for the
Cherokee Nation.
"It gives our Cherokee people a more thorough understanding of our
removal," Baker said. "While we were forcibly removed, we did adapt to
our new surroundings. We've survived and have prospered. We are now a
nation of over 250,000 citizens."
Bost said the Illinois Department of Transportation would erect
plaques and signs marking Illinois 149 as part of the historic Trail
of Tears.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.