Last updated: December 21, 2021
Article
Transportation During the Cherokee Removal 1837 - 1839
The 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 invention of the steamboat and railroads, along with vast improvements in the construction, design, and maintenance of roads and turnpikes, marked the beginning of a transportation revolution in the United States during the early 1800s. The Cherokee removal occurred as this revolution began to unfold. While the Cherokee utilized these transformative modes of transportation during their forced removal, it is important to remember that the majority traveled by foot on roads over rough terrain.
This publication was made possible by the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Task Agreement P18AC01316 with National Trails– National Park Service and the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University.