Forced march featured in mural

FORCED MARCH FEATURED IN MURAL

The latest Mississippi River Tales mural features Cherokee tribe members traveling through the harsh winter during their forced relocation known as the Trail of Tears.

Between 1838 and 1839, the U.S. government forced thousands of Cherokees to move from their homes in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee to present-day Oklahoma. Thousands of tribe members who traveled on foot died on the roughly 1,000-mile journey.

A majority of the Cherokee traveled along the northern route, across Tennessee, southwestern Kentucky, southern Illinois, southern Missouri and northwest Arkansas.

In Missouri, the relocation is acknowledged by Trail of Tears State Park, located on 3,415 acres in Jackson where nine of the 13 Cherokee groups landed.

In December 1838, the groups crossed the Mississippi River from Golconda, Ill., into an area in Missouri called Moccasin Springs and then followed Greensferry Road into Jackson.

-- Kathryn Alfisi