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Tennessee River
As I was driving northwest through Tennessee I came across the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park at Blythe Ferry. It is a very moving testimony to the tragedy of our treatment of Native Americans in the 1800’s. Mostly Cherokee Indians from east of here were herded west until they reached the Tennessee River at Blythe Ferry. It took several weeks to ferry them all across, and as at other points along the Trail of Tears there were many deaths. The names of those that died from Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, North and South Carolina are listed here. In our turbulent country today it is a vivid reminder of the cruelty we can inflict on those we see as different from ourselves. And I prayed a prayer that we might all learn to live together in peace, and set aside our hatred.
