Inside the Indian Removal Act’s cruelest journey through Arkansas

Cherokee Trail of Tears Through Present-Day Bentonville

The land where Crystal Bridges Museum now stands once felt the footsteps of 16,000 Cherokee forced from their homes.

In 1838, after President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, these men, women, and children walked through northwest Arkansas in harsh winter.

They moved past Pea Ridge and through present-day Bentonville on their way to Indian Territory. Chief John Ross fought to let Cherokee lead their own groups rather than military escorts.

Still, the trip was brutal. People went on foot, by wagon, and horseback through snow and mud. Sickness spread fast. By journey’s end, more than 2,000 had died.

The museum that now sits on this path tells their story through art that honors those who walked before.

Jackson’s Pen Stroke Changed Cherokee Lives Forever

President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, giving the government power to kick Native Americans out of their Southeast homes.

The law targeted five tribes: Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole. The Cherokee fought back in court and won their case.

Jackson ignored the ruling, reportedly saying, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it. ” This stubborn move started one of America’s darkest chapters.

Cherokee Leaders Fought Removal with Paperwork and Politics

Chief John Ross led the Cherokee Nation’s fight against removal using every legal trick possible.

His work fell apart when a small group of Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, giving away all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi.

Most Cherokee saw this treaty as a fraud since the signers couldn’t speak for everyone. The U.S. government told the Cherokee they had until May 1838 to move west on their own.

Soldiers Rounded Up Families at Gunpoint

General Winfield Scott brought 7,000 troops to Cherokee territory in May 1838 to force people from their homes.

Soldiers surrounded Cherokee communities and gave families just minutes to grab what they could carry.

People lost farms, homes, and belongings they’d spent generations building. The army packed them into crude stockades where they waited to go west.

Crowded conditions in these camps spread disease quickly.

Chief Ross Took Control of the Tragic Journey

Chief John Ross got the government to let Cherokee leaders manage their own removal instead of military escorts. He split the journey into 13 groups traveling by land and 4 by water.

Each group had a Cherokee leader in charge of the tough trip. Ross couldn’t change where they were going, but he hoped Cherokee leadership would save more lives.

Most groups followed the Northern Route through northwest Arkansas in harsh winter weather.

Winter Made Every Step a Fight for Survival

The Cherokee left in fall 1838, walking into one of the worst winters on record. People trudged through snow and ice, many without good shoes or warm clothes.

Some rode in wagons or on horseback, but most walked the entire 800-mile journey. The oldest and youngest travelers suffered badly in the cold.

Frozen rivers blocked their path, food ran short, and shelter meant whatever they could find or build each night.

Cherokee Footsteps First Touched Arkansas at Pea Ridge

The tired travelers entered Arkansas near what we now call Pea Ridge. Richard Taylor’s group of Cherokee camped at Elk Horn Tavern on March 18, 1839.

The path took them right through what later became Bentonville. Local settlers watched as thousands of Cherokee passed through their small communities.

Some offered help, while others tried to make money from the travelers’ tough situation.

Crystal Bridges Museum Sits Where Cherokee Once Rested

The Northern Route ran right through the land where Crystal Bridges Museum stands today.

Cherokee travelers stopped at natural springs to fill water containers for the next part of their journey. Local trading posts sold basic supplies at high prices.

The deep ravines and thick forests of northwest Arkansas made travel even harder for the already tired people, especially those pulling wagons or carrying children.

The Journey Continued Through Towns That Didn’t Exist Yet

From Bentonville, the Cherokee walked to Cross Hollows, an area we now call Lowell. They passed through a small settlement called Fitzgerald’s, which later grew into Springdale.

The groups then moved through Fayetteville before crossing into Indian Territory. Military outposts along the way tracked their progress and sometimes gave minimal supplies.

The Cherokee traveled through mostly wild land with few roads.

Sickness Spread Through the Traveling Groups

Deadly diseases tore through the Cherokee groups as they moved west. Smallpox, dysentery, measles, and whooping cough killed people daily.

Between 10-15% of those who started the journey died before reaching Indian Territory. Many bodies lie in unmarked graves along the route through northwest Arkansas.

When travel couldn’t stop, families sometimes had to leave their dead in shallow graves or even unburied before moving on.

The Cherokee Rebuilt Their Nation in a New Land

The final groups reached Indian Territory by March 1839 after months on the trail. Survivors faced the huge task of building homes in unfamiliar territory.

The Cherokee set up a new government and slowly rebuilt their nation in what is now Oklahoma.

The trauma of forced removal stayed with the Cherokee people for generations, passed down through stories and songs that kept the memory of their eastern homeland alive.

Museum Visitors Walk Where Cherokee Once Suffered

Crystal Bridges Museum now recognizes it sits on the ancestral lands of the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw Nations, as well as land the Cherokee passed through during removal.

The museum works to include Native American perspectives in its collections and exhibits. Educational programs tell the story of the Trail of Tears to visitors.

Historical markers throughout northwest Arkansas help people understand the route Cherokee travelers followed nearly two centuries ago.

Visiting Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas

Crystal Bridges Museum at 600 Museum Way in Bentonville offers free admission to explore American art on land that Cherokee people crossed during their forced removal.

The museum acknowledges it’s on Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw treaty territory.

You can visit Monday and Wednesday 11am-6pm, Thursday-Friday 11am-8pm, and weekends 10am-6pm (closed Tuesdays). Check out “American Sunrise: Indigenous Art” through March 2025, plus 134 acres of trails.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• This Arkansas museum is literally built over water—and defies architectural physics
• Bass Reeves, the runaway slave who terrorized outlaws across the Wild West
• Hot Springs’ Bathhouse Row in Arkansas has an unexpected mafia history