Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears (HM25DX)

Location: Fort Payne, AL 35968 DeKalb County
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Country: United States of America
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N 34° 26.266', W 85° 45.152'

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Inscription

John Benge Route

—Fort Payne, Alabama to Oklahoma —

(side 1)
The first detachment of 1,103 Cherokees to emigrate under their own officers, prior to leaving for the west held a final council at Rattlesnake Springs (near present-day Charleston, TN) and, by unanimous vote, declared their intentions to continue their old constitution and laws upon arrival in the west. John Benge, an officer of this first detachment was a descendant of red-haired Chief Bench, who had fought for Cherokee freedom in the eighteenth century. Benge's assistant was George Lowrey, referred to by admiring whites as the "Cherokee George Washington."

John Burnett, a private in Captain McClellan's company as an eyewitness to the Cherokees' forced removal west by the United States Government. Burnett recalled its horrors:
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(side 2)
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"I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven by bayonet into the stockades" now present-day Fort Payne. On October 3, 1838, Cherokee leader John Benge left Fort Payne, they followed what is now Highway 33 through Fort Payne to the top of Sand Mountain. Turning southwest at present-day Rainesville, they followed Highway 75 to Albertville, then U.S. Highway 431 to Gunters Landing (now Guntersville).

They were ferried



across the Tennessee River, then proceeding north to present-day Gurley before heading northwest along the Flint River, into Tennessee and west. Many died of hypothermia and starvation at the Three Forks of the Flint River.

Over 4,000 Cherokee Indians died on this forced removal known as the Trail of Tears, however many ancestors of American Indians reside in Alabama today.
Details
HM NumberHM25DX
Series This marker is part of the Trail of Tears series
Tags
Placed ByState Senator Lowell Barron, community donations, DeKalb County Tourist Assoc. and ATTOTCA; Alabama Indian Affairs Commission
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, February 9th, 2018 at 10:02am PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16S E 614609 N 3811402
Decimal Degrees34.43776667, -85.75253333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 34° 26.266', W 85° 45.152'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds34° 26' 15.96" N, 85° 45' 9.1200000000001" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)256
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1613 Pine Ridge Rd SW, Fort Payne AL 35968, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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