I took a short drive out to Cave Springs, along part of the Trail of Tears. This entire area was the home of the Cherokee Indians, many of whom went to great lengths to acclimate to the white man’s way of life, living in cabins and farming the land. Again, for the most part, they got along with their white neighbors. But no exceptions were made when the forced evacuation began in 1839.
The Vann cabin was home to two Cherokee families from 1810. They seem to have been peaceable farmers, but they too were forced from their home. I don’t know what happened to these two families on the Trail of Tears. Their history is lost.
Cave Springs is an unremarkable southern town, with lots of antique shops. Its main claim to fame is the cave for which it is named, but it wasn’t open when I was there.
If you’d like to read more about the removals, go to “Cherokee Removal Memorial Park, Blythe Ferry, Tennessee” on Aug. 16, 2017.
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Route of the Trial of Tears.
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The David Vann cabin, built in 1810.
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Cave Springs, GA
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War Memorials.
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Special Memorial for Viet Nam.
