Park History - Trail of Tears

Remembering an American Tragedy

President Andrew Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act of 1830, authorizing land west of the Mississippi River to be traded for tribal lands in the east. The purpose was to have all Native Americans in the east moved to the west. The act was not originally a forced relocation measure. However, it was enforced as such during 1838-1839. This followed the 1835 Treaty of New Echota wherein a minority faction of the Cherokee Nation acted without authority and ceded their lands to the Federal government. Trail of Tears State Park commemorates a portion of this Cherokee Removal. While some of the Cherokees left on their own, more than 16,000 were forced out against their will. In winter 1838 – 1839, a procession of wagons, horsemen and people on foot traveled 800 miles west to Indian Territory, current-day Oklahoma. Others traveled by boat along river routes. Most of the Cherokee detachments made their way through Cape Girardeau County, home of Trail of Tears State Park. While there, the Native Americans endured brutal conditions. They faced rain, snow, freezing cold and disease. Floating ice stopped the attempted Mississippi River crossing, so the detachments had to set up camps on both sides of the river. It is estimated that over 4,000 Cherokees lost their lives on the march, nearly a fifth of the population.

Legend says that Nancy Bushyhead Walker Hildebrand died and was buried within the park’s boundaries. She was the sister of Rev. Jesse Bushyhead, who led one of the detachments, and the wife of Lewis Hildebrand, who helped lead another. Her two children traveled on and made it to Indian Territory.

The Bushyhead Memorial in the park is a tribute to her and all the other Cherokee who died on the trail. Trail of Tears State Park is a certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Exhibits at the park’s  visitor center tell the tale of the thousands who perished on the forced march.