Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and the Tennessee, Wheeler and White River National Wildlife Refuges: Historical and Interpretation Study

摘要

The purpose of this study is to provide baseline historical information pertaining to those portions of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail that cross onto lands managed by the FWS at the White River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Arkansas, the Wheeler NWR in Alabama, and the Tennessee NWR in Tennessee. The Trail of Tears refers to the removal of the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee and Seminole tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi River and their relocation to the Indian Territory in the 1820s and 1830s. Because of the loss of life and suffering during the removal, this event in the nation's history has been termed the Trail of Tears and research and documentation of its history has increased significantly in recent decades.