NATIONAL TRAIL OF TEARS MEETING SCHEDULED HERE

A two-day National Trail of Tears Historic Trail Advisory Council meeting will be held in Cape Girardeau Thursday and Friday.

Expected for a gathering here today are Duane King, who has provided much of the research for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail; David Gaines, who will help administer plans for a comprehensive management and use plan for the trail; and John E. Cook of the National Park Service.

Also attending will be Troy Poteepe, a representative of the Cherokee Indian Nation of Oklahoma, a member of the advisory council.

Gaines, of Santa Fe, N.M., is chief of the National Park Service's southwest region office of the branch of long distance trails, who has been working with the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail. King, of Santa Fe, is chairman of the 21-member Trail of Tears advisory group.

King, of the National Park Service, Gaines, Cook, Poteepe and at least a dozen members of the advisory council will attend today's welcoming reception at the Trail of Tears State Park Visitors Center at 6 p.m.. It will be hosted by Missouri Rep. David Schwab and Friends of the Trail of Tears.

Public meetings will be conducted at the Holiday Inn from 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Thursday and Friday.

"The meetings are open to the public," said Cook, director of the southwest region of the National Park Service, which is working with the advisory council. "Facilities and space are limited and persons will be accommodated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

King said the group will be in Cape Girardeau to research and document the actual route used during the forced move of Indians from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838.

The Trail of Tears is the route of a forced march in 1938-39, when between 14,000 and 15,000 Cherokees were forced by a government treaty to move west.

The Trail of Tears started near the town of Murphy, N.C., and passed through the states of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas before ending near Tahlequah, Okla.

Historians estimated that as many as 4,000 Indians died during the trip, made during the harsh winter.

The group will tour local trail sites between Golconda, Ill., and Cape Girardeau Thursday afternoon.

"Discussions here will focus on implementation of the `Comprehensive Management and Use Plan' for the trail, fund-raising needs, promoting public awareness and the formation of a Trail of Tears Association," said Gaines. "We'll be working this coming fiscal year on negotiating and forging cooperative agreements with each of the nine trail states, the Cherokee Nation, U.S. Forest Service, Corps of Engineers and others."

Gaines said that the agreements will provide the necessary foundation for implementation "on the ground."

"It is our hope that fiscal year 1994 will bring initial and operational funding for the trail," Gaines said. "We want to be ready."

Cook agreed: "We're looking forward to working with the advisory council members and receive their ideas for moving forward with this plan. Council meetings like these provide the Forest Service with a great forum to exchange information and ideals needed to bring forth to the public the significant story of the Trail of Tears."

Gaines said he would present an update on the Santa Fe Trail during the first session of the meeting. "The Santa Fe Trail is about three years ahead of the Trail of Tears in planning," he said.

Included on the national advisory council are two area men Robert C. Friedrich Jr. of Jackson and H. Riley Bock of Portageville. Illinoisans on the council are Joseph D. Teaff of Murphysboro and Allan K. Green of Harrisburg.