The House of Representatives passed the Trail of Tears Documentation Act on Monday, a bill introduced by Congressman Zach Wamp that doubles the current Trail of Tears. These added routes were previously undocumented arteries by which the Cherokee were forced out of their ancestral homelands. Through further research and study of military journals, newspaper accounts and vouchers, historians have been able to document the primary routes.

 “The Cherokee removal is only one tribe’s story of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, but it is the most visible in American history. It is not just an Arkansas and Oklahoma story; it started in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama,” said Wamp. “These distinct routes and campgrounds proposed in the Trail of Tears Documentation Act more fully reflect this tragic saga of a proud people’s forced removal.”

The Trail of Tears Documentation Act calls for the Benge and Bell routes along with associated components to become part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. For the first time, the routes will reach into the Cherokee homelands where the Trail actually began.

The detachments led by John Benge traveled 734 miles starting at Fort Payne, Alabama, continuing through Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Treaty Party Group led by John Bell traveled 765 miles starting at Charleston, Tennessee, crossing west over Moccasin Bend and traveling through Arkansas. It was the only one of the 17 detachments that did not disband in Oklahoma. There are 29 forts and emigration depots concentrated around Fort Payne, Alabama; Ross’s Landing - present day Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Fort Cass - present day Charleston, Tennessee, where the Cherokee initially were taken after being rounded up from their homes for the long journey west.

“Congressman Wamp has done a great service by passing this legislation that marks, in a very real and tangible way, the lessons we can learn from one of the darkest moments in U.S. history. Thousands of innocent people died along the Trail of Tears, because people in Congress ratified a treaty they knew to be fraudulent. Congressmen Wamp deserves praise not only for acknowledging this memorial to the strength of the tribes who survived this dark moment in U.S. history, but also for reminding those in Congress today the tragedies that can happen when they ignore their own laws and court rulings in the face of political pressure from special interests,” said Chad Smith, Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

 “The National Trail of Tears is an important historic route for the history of our Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee, and for the United States as a whole because it demonstrates the endurance of the human spirit. While the Trail of Tears is a dark stain on our past, its remembrance can provide an educational experience which will strengthen our future,” said Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokees.

Congressman Wamp added, “Completing the story of the Cherokee Removal is personal for me and very important for our country as the Trail of Tears and the forced removal is one of the seminal injustices in American history. It must be told accurately, honestly and completely.”

The measure moves to the U.S. Senate this week for consideration.