MAN ON HORSEBACK BACKTRACKING TRAIL OF TEARS

If you see a man on horseback leading a pack horse down a road in Cape Girardeau County today, it's J. Samuel Burton keeping a promise he made to his grandfather.

Burton, an Illinois man who is part Cherokee and African-American, is retracing the route of the Trail of Tears, but from west to east. His grandfather walked the same trail from his reservation in North Carolina to Oklahoma.

As he began the trip, Burton wrote in his journal: "Please follow me now as I fulfill the promise to my grandfather and lay other Cherokee spirits to rest, especially my grandfather Samuel Burton, as I begin my ride in reverse of the Trail of Tears."

Where Burton was to spend the night Friday was unknown. According to the journal on his website, he planned to follow Highway 25 into the county. A spokesman for the Northern Cherokee National of Upper Louisiana said Burton is expected to arrive at Trail of Tears State Park tonight. He will camp there.

Don Norton, southern region director of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, is helping coordinate Burton's ride through Southern Illinois. He said Burton's horses will ride in a trailer when they cross the Mississippi River Bridge either Monday or Tuesday. His next destination will be Golconda.

Eight thousand Cherokee began the infamous 1,000-mile march known as the Trail of Tears in the winter of 1838. Many arrived in Golconda about Dec. 3. Some were murdered there by men who sued the government for money to pay for burying their victims.

Four thousand of the Cherokee who started from North Carolina died along the Trail of Tears.

Burton, a retired engineer from Evanston, Ill., began his own journey in Evanston in July. He headed first for Tahlequah, Okla., the end point of the Trail of Tears march, and hopes to finish the trip March 26 in Cherokee, N.C., where the trail began.

Burton is known as Wolfrider and rides a paint horse named Tibiano Cherokee. His pack horse is a paint called Ghost Dancer.

His progress can be followed at the website a Kansas couple set up after meeting him. The address is www.dailynews.net/ads/wolfrider/mission.html

As February began Burton was in Winona, where he spoke to students and met many people who had questions about his ride. On Feb. 4, a Missouri Highway patrolman awoke him to see if he was OK. The wind was blowing about 50 mph so he stayed in his sleeping bag. The Highway Patrolman insisted he get into the car to get warm.

According to his latest journal entry on Feb. 6, he spoke to a third-grade class and attended a birthday party for the twin granddaughters of one of people he met along the Trail of Tears.

Norton plans for Burton to speak to school classes while he is in Southern Illinois.