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The first major law reversing U.S. policy of respecting native rights paved the way for the often forcible emigration of thousands of Indians to the West.
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Removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.
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1835 - Treaty Party signs Treaty of New Echota, giving up title to all Cherokee lands in southeast in exchange for land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
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Cherokee tribes are put into relocation camps.
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In 1838, the Cherokee Indians became the fifth major tribe to experience forced relocation
to Indian Territory. The Cherokee Nation moved from its ancestral homeland in parts of North Carolina,
Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama to land set aside for them in what is now the state of Oklahoma. -
Fall of 1838, and Winter of 1839 - Trails of Tears. US Government's forced removal of 17,000 Cherokees, in defiance of Supreme Court decision. More than 4,000 die from exposure and disease along the way.
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In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-192, designating two of the routes taken by the Cherokee people
in their removal as a National Historic Trail within the National Trails System. Today, it is best know as "The
Trail of Tears".
