Last updated: March 10, 2023
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Columbus Belmont State Park Kentucky Waysides
NPS Wayside
Trail of Tears Exhibit Audio Description (Crossing Over)
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Columbus Belmont Crossing Over Exhibit Audio Description
Columbus Belmont Crossing Over Exhibit Audio Description
- Credit / Author:
- NPS
In front of you, is a slanted exhibit panel it is 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall, and about 3 feet off the ground. Across the top of the exhibit panel is a black banner.The panel has a drawing for its background, it is pencil sketch, the only colors are on the waiting Cherokee's blankets and coats. The drawing features a group of people huddled in smaller groups, waiting to board a ferry to cross the Mississippi River.
Text reads, Columbus-Belmont State Park. The blue, triangular logo for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is on the right side with text crediting the partners on this project. Trail of Tears Association, Kentucky Great River Region Organization, and National Park Service.
Main text, Title, Crossing Over, One of the busiest trading towns along the Mississippi River in the 1830s, Columbus, Kentucky, boasted a post office, sawmill, tavern, and four trading stores. Columbus became a part of Indian removal on the Trail of Tears when nearly 1,100 Cherokee led by John Benge arrived in 1838. They camped on a bluff overlooking the river and town of Columbus, originally located on the riverbank. The bluff is now part of Columbus-Belmont State Park.
The Cherokee waited 10 days to be ferried across the river before continuing their forced migration to Indian Territory. Colonel J. L. Colburn, a detachment subcontractor, gave a detailed account of the journey’s progress and recounted that after the arduous three-day river crossing, the Cherokee faced a 70-mile trek across swampland to Jackson, Missouri. From there, they still had another 450 miles to travel to Indian Territory (or Oklahoma).
Paragraphs in the middle of the panel, The Cherokee Nation once spread across parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. The 1830 Indian Removal Act required that the Cherokee surrender their land and move west. In 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee began their journey from their traditional eastern homeland to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) over the Trail of Tears.
Black outlined box in the top right corner of panel title, A Letter Recounts the Trail through Columbus
Text in box reads, “I was employed with John Benge's Detachment of Cherokee Emigrants, who set out from Fort Payne, Alabama on the 27th September 1838 and arrived at Jackson in the State of Missouri on the 28th November 1838...From Fort Payne to Tennessee via the country was mountainous and the road bad, the detachment was three days in crossing the river from there to the Iron Banks [Columbus] the road passed over a rough country and was in bad condition, in some instances we were compelled to repair bridges before the people and wagons could cross. We were detained ten days in crossing the Mississippi and from this point to Jackson about 70 miles is most of way swamp.
End of Letter, Col. J. L. Colburn, Subcontractor for the Benge detachment, March 2, 1841. This letter was a part of the John Ross Papers.
Black outlined box in lower right, titled Benge Detachment Names and Numbers. It lists the names of the leaders of the detachment and some statistics. The Benge Detachment, departed from Fort Payne, Alabama with 1079 persons left on September 28, 1838, and 1,131 arrived in Indian territory on January 11, 1839. There were 33 deaths and three births. Additional people joined the group along the trail. The Conductor was Capt. John Benge, Assistant Conductor was George C. Lowery, Jr. Physician William P. Rowles, interpreter A. P. Lowrey, Commissary James H. Rogers, Asst. Commissary George Lovett, Manager John F. Boot. Assistant Managers Archibald Campbell, Jesse Lovett, and Money Cryer. Wagon Master was Robert Benge, Assistant Wagon Master George W. Campbell, Subcontractor Colonel J. L. Colburn. This list comes from the Payroll of Officers and Muster Roll of heads of families, John Ross Papers.
NPS Wayside
Trail of Tears Exhibit Audio Description (They Passed This Way)
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Columbus Belmont They Passed This Way Exhibit Audio Description
Columbus Belmont They Passed This Way Exhibit Audio Description
- Credit / Author:
- NPS
In front of you, is a slanted exhibit panel it is 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall, and about 3 feet off of the ground. Across the top of the panel is a black banner with text, Columbus-Belmont State Park. The blue, triangular logo for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is on the right side with text crediting the partners on this project. Trail of Tears Association, Kentucky Great River Region Organization, and National Park Service.Main text on the left side of the panel, title, they passed this way, text reads, Home to thousands of men, women, and children, the Cherokee Nation once spread across parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. The 1830 Indian Removal Act required that the Cherokee surrender their land and move west.
In 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee began their trek west from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) over the “Trail of Tears.” They traveled by roads and rivers, including this stretch of the Mississippi River. Nearly 1,000 died during the journey westward, and up to 4,000 died as a result of the forced removal process.
Drawing in the middle of the panel, People wait to board boats pulled by a river steamboat
Quote below drawing, “I have no more land. I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters, let us all go, let us all die together and somewhere upon the banks we will be there.” From Sin-e-cha’s Song, heard on removal boats along the Trail of Tears.
Paragraphs on the right side of panel, titled Dangers of water travel along the Trail of Tears, text reads, Few groups of Cherokee traveled by water. After hearing of the difficulties faced by military-led groups that had traveled the water route, Cherokee leaders petitioned for permission to manage the removal of their own people.
They decided to remove over land routes to avoid the dangers of travel by boat, including the quick spread of sickness onboard, the fear of disease along the river lowlands, and unpredictable water levels and weather patterns.
Paragraphs on lower left side of panel, title, Federal Indian Removal Policy, paragraph text reads, Federal Indian removal policy aroused fierce and bitter debate. Supporters of the policy claimed it was a benevolent action to save the tribes east of the Mississippi River from being overwhelmed and lost in the onslaught of an expanding American population. Opponents decried its inhumanity and the tragic consequences it had for the Indian peoples. One thing was certain; removal freed millions of acres of desired Indian lands for use by white settlers.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the removal of thousands of American Indians from their ancestral lands for new homes in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). They traveled by existing roads and rivers. Many groups, hoping to avoid the disease and heat of summer travel, left in the fall and instead faced treacherous winter weather. Many died during the ordeal of the Trail of Tears.
Map to the right of paragraph is of the Southeastern United States, five brown arrows pointing from east to west show the origin of the five Tribes during the forced removal. The arrows represent where tribal populations came from in relation to today's US states, however, tribal lands did not originally have any relationship to state lines. The paths curve and merge at different points across the map but all end in what is today’s Oklahoma.
Text below map, In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee, 21,000 Muscogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from their ancestral homes in the southeastern United States.
Paragraph at the bottom in the center of the panel, title, Today
Paragraph reads: Despite the hardships of the journey, members of the five removed tribes established new lives in the West. They stand as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions, while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century.
Cherokee who survived the Trail of Tears created a new sovereign nation in present-day Oklahoma. Some Cherokee remained in North Carolina and due to a special exemption formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Map on the lower right side of panel, title Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, map shows a more detailed view of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Black lines represent the Historic Trail and yellow dots show major cities across the routes today.
Text below map; By helping to preserve historic sites and trail segments and developing areas for public use, the story of the forced removal of the Cherokee people and other American Indian tribes is remembered and told by the National Park Service and its partners. You can visit more sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Learn more at nps.gov/trte