Some Trail of Tears graves may be near Anna

~ A geophysicist at Southern Illinois University has worked to prove that since 1999.

ANNA, Ill. -- The tiny Camp Ground church cemetery includes among its dead some of the earliest settlers from this part of Southern Illinois -- Germans whose weathered sandstone grave markers date to the 1800s.

Still, a mystery lingers about others who might be buried on this solemn ground: Is the graveyard the final resting place of Cherokee Indians who died here during the winter of 1838-1839 when they were forced westward on the infamous Trail of Tears to what now is Oklahoma?

Local legend says the graves are here, but Harvey Henson wants to know for sure. The geophysicist at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale has rolled out the high-tech gadgets to try to get answers.

"We've definitely got unmarked graves, no doubt," he said. "But are they Europeans or settlers or Native Americans? No one quite knows that, and that's a nice problem to solve."

Henson calls his evidence "pretty circumstantial" and barring a court order to dig up the property -- something Henson doesn't endorse -- the answer may forever elude him.

Henson thinks he has pinpointed at least two single, unmarked graves, though results of new data being processed could reveal more, perhaps a dozen, he said.

"We're dealing with so many unknowns," he said. "We're out to find where the Cherokee are buried, and how many are there. You just have to take it systematically and line up the evidence."

Henson has been trying to build his case since 1999. That's when Sandy Boaz, whose ancestors are buried in the Camp Ground graveyard, sought his help to scientifically prove whether the cemetery included any Cherokees who succumbed during their relocation journey.

The cemetery already is part of the National Park Service's Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, designated by Congress in 1987 and stretching roughly 2,200 miles across nine states. The graveyard is along the trail's northern route, one of three pathways used by about 16,000 Cherokees when they were ordered out of the southeast.

Stories have passed from generation to generation here about German settlers who befriended the Cherokees, who while trying to pass through this Union County area on foot or by horse or oxen-pulled carts became trapped when ice floes made crossing the Mississippi River impossible.

The total death toll along the Trail of Tears isn't clear. The official government account at the time was about 400 deaths, though most accounts suggest that some 4,000 Cherokees perished.

Burial records involving any Cherokees in the Camp Ground cemetery were never kept, and Henson suspects that survivors of those dead may not have had time to erect grave markers.

After researching the matter for some 20 years, Boaz is convinced that Cherokees are spending eternity near her ancestors she says owned the property that became the graveyard.

"To me, it's not a mystery at all," said Boaz, 58. "My family have passed this word down for years. I feel this is legit."

In trying to unmask the mystery, Henson has marked off a small Camp Ground cemetery section -- roughly 50 by 60 feet -- that appears unblemished and "had been left alone pretty much through the years," given the legend of what may be below.

Using such noninvasive tools as ground-penetrating radar, he said he has found disturbances in soil layers that would suggest the presence of interment or graves.

"We got a few interesting anomalies and patterns," he said. "When you start getting the same story from different techniques and methods, you start to believe. It's kind of like a court case -- you get people to testify and put forth evidence, then get the jury to determine who's right and wrong."

Though none of his information identifies the buried person's ethnicity, sex or age, Henson hopes his work will help ensure that any possible grave sites remain undisturbed "to preserve their right to rest in peace."