Trail of Tears Princeton

NEWSLETTER October

2007-10-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

PRINCETON-CALDWELL TRAIL OF TEARS COMMISSION INC.
NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2007

TONY NAVA IN PRINCETON NAVEMBER 26TH

Anthony Nava enjoys touring throughout the Ohio Valley area, as a solo artist, Anthony is an accomplished musician who tours nationwide for concerts, American Indian events, museums, fairs, and festivals. Anthony also teaches about Cultural Diversity at local colleges and teaches American Indian culture, dance and music at schools reaching grades K-12. Anthony was influenced to teach children about his culture when he saw a lack of information regarding American Indians in schools, and also felt the need to help to remove stereotypes surrounding Indigenous Peoples' of America.

Anthony will be at Caldwell County School system on Monday, November 26th and will have a presentation at the George Coon Library at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited to attend.
“ I teach the importance of Oral Traditions, Social Structure of our Peoples', Religious Aspects, Tribal Politics, Family Structure, Economics (trade system), Medicines, Foods (gathering, hunting and how the people prepared and cooked food), I explain the importance of Regalia, and demonstrate many types of dances. In music, I explain the many types of instruments and songs. I use rattles, flutes and drums, and teach the importance of why they were used in our traditions and culture in the past and why they are still used today.”

Trail of Tear Memorial Walk, Saturday September 8th
Mural Unveiled!

Come out on November 1, 2007
And be a part
Of the
Unveiling of the 1st Trail of Tears
Mural
On South Jefferson Street
At 10:00 am

Mayor Cherry will give a proclamation on behalf of Princeton for Native American History Month

For more information about the Trail of Tears Commission, contact 365-2031 or 365-5393 or email chamberofcommerce@pepb.net

November is Kentucky Native American Month

2007-10-24T10:26:00.001-07:00

November is Native American Indian Month

WHEREAS, the month of November of each year is observed in Kentucky as "Native American Indian Month" and during this month schools, clubs, and civic and religious organizations are encouraged to recognize the contributions of Native American Indians with suitable ceremony and fellowship designed to promote greater understanding and brotherhood between Native American Indians and the non-Native American Indian people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

WHEREAS, prior to the first day of November of each year, the Governor issues a proclamation inviting and urging the people of the Commonwealth to observe Native American Indian Month with suitable ceremony and fellowship.

WHEREAS, the Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Heritage Council, and the Native American Heritage Commission, within the limits of funds available for this purpose, make information available to all people of this Commonwealth regarding Native American Indian Month and the observance thereof.

WHEREAS, the City Princeton/Caldwell County Trail of Tears Commissions wish to establish a special observance to celebrate a strong, proud people with a deep faith in nature and its awesome power and an indomitable spirit that has allowed them to always persevere; and

WHEREAS, Native American Indians are so important to our history that they were even responsible for naming this Land of Plenty, Kentucke; and

WHEREAS, Native American Indians have played a vital role in the life of our Commonwealth, and their many contributions have enhanced the freedom, prosperity, and greatness of Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Kentucky is committed to remembering these contributions and to honoring the unique heritage of our state's first inhabitants; and

WHEREAS, a special observance would reflect our Commonwealth's commitment to the Native American Indians as an integral part of the social, political, and economic fabric of the state of Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, a special observance would embody the fundamental belief of Kentuckians that people of widely varied and diverse cultural backgrounds must stand united together to make this great Commonwealth strong;

NOW, THEREFORE, Be it enacted by the Commission shall observe November as Native American Month in Princeton, Kentucky in honor of the Native Americans who lived in Kentucky and also in solemn remembrance of those Native Americans who passed through Caldwell County on the Trail of Tears during the 1830’s.

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-10T06:28:00.001-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-10T06:23:00.001-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-10T06:19:00.001-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-10T06:14:00.001-07:00

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-09-10T06:06:00.001-07:00

Annual Membership Meeting

2007-08-02T04:49:00.001-07:00

Ritchie McKinney speaks to the Trail of Tears Annual Meeting about the planned murals for the Brown Building.

About twenty-one attended the Princeton Trail of Tears Commission Annual Membership Meeting at the George Coon Public Library. Tony Merrick give a short presentation on the Cherokee Brave Civil War era Flag.

The purpose of the meeting was mostly to tell the public that we have finished the phases planned on the park. It is ready for the public to begin using, and we will continue working on new parts of the park, Big Springs, plantings etc... We will be dedicating the park on the first weekend of June 2008, along with participating in the Pennington Folk Music Festival. Special guests will be invited and there will be a program at the park.

John Humphries talked about the purpose of the group is to create a forum to continually educate the public about the effects that President Andrew Jackson's actions in 1830 effect us today.

Refreshments were served and new members joined the group to work on the upcomming events. Upcoming events include the Blackpatch Memorial Walk, Geneology Workshop, Caldwell County Bike Ride, and Native American Cultural Workshop in the spring.

Annual Membership Meeting

2007-07-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

TRAIL OF TEARS COMMISSION INVITES PUBLIC TO MEMBERSHIP MEETING
The Princeton/Caldwell County Trail of Tears Commission invites the public to a general membership meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday evening, July 26th, at 7:pm at the George Coon Library at 114 S. Harrison St., Princeton. Chairman John Humphries will introduce the present commission members, give a brief history of the organization and its goals, and tell about the work done on the new Trail of Tears Park.
Tony Merrick will give a short presentation on the Cherokee Brave Civil War era Flag. Ritchie McKinney will unveil plans for the new Trail of Tears Mural to be on the Brown building by First Southern Bank.
Refreshments will be served. The public is encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Judy Boaz at the George Coon Library at 365-2884.

BLACKPATCH TRAIL OF TEARS MEMORIAL WALK

2007-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

BLACKPATCH
TRAIL OF TEARS
MEMORIAL WALK

In recognition of the 177th anniversary of the removal of Native Americans and their journey to Okalahoma through Kentucky, the Princeton/Caldwell County Trail of Tears Commission is sponsoring a One-Mile Memorial Walk and a Historical Presentation and Dedication.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Glen E. Martin will gather the walkers together at 7:30 a.m.

The One-Mile Memorial Walk will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Trail of Tears Park
across from Big Springs on Washington Street in downtown Princeton,
and will proceed to Market Street and Plum Street, returning to the Trail of Tears Park.

At 9:00 a.m. there will be a Historical presentation and Dedication of the Park.

Doors Prizes will be distributed to those who are registered walkers.

Registration Information

Participants in the Walk are asked to Pre-register. The first 100 Pre-registered participants will receive a T-shirt and entry packet. Pre-registration begins on August 1 and will run until September 1, 2007. The cost is $12.00 per person; children under 7 must register but will walk for free. There will be Late registration the day of the Walk from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. at the Trail of Tears Park. The Walk will be held, rain or shine. No refunds will be given.

For more information call: John Humphries 365-7751
Judy Boaz 365-2884
Sherry Jordan 365-5393

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pre-Registration Form – Princeton, Caldwell County One-Mile Trail of Tears Memorial Walk
Saturday, September 8, 2007 8:00 a.m.

Name _____________________________________________________________

Age _______________Phone _____________________T-Shirt Size ____________

Address ____________________________________________________________

Make checks for $12.00 payable to: Princeton/Caldwell County Trail of Tears Commission
Mailing address: 1500 South Jefferson Street, Princeton, Kentucky 42445- 6043
Additional forms available at the George Coon Public Library, the Princeton Tourism Center, the Princeton/Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce Office, and the Princeton Electric Plant Board

Elkhorn Tavern along the Trail of Tears

2006-10-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Echoes Of Yesteryear

By

Leslie McDonald

The suffering of Cherokees was beyond description. Buckner states that between Hopkinsville and the next stop a Cherokee woman was left behind in the woods to give birth to a baby while her detachment marched ahead. She was to be picked up within 48 hours by the next detachment which followed.

In a recent letter to the Cherokee Historical Society confirmed local tradition that in Caldwell County the stop along the Trail of Tears was at Elkhorn Tavern. .

The Cherokees camped on Skin frame Creek, probably near the old grist mill and dam, and I am sure some of the soldiers were quartered in the Elkhorn Tavern. Elkhorn was built between 1810 and 1815 by James Blue.

The charming old log building contains a huge stone chimney and big fire place and is the second remaining inn along the Trail of Tears in Kentucky. Mrs. Marquess says the Tavern’s name originated from the fact that in the early 1800’s an elk was killed on the creek by a man named Maxwell. The horns were hung upon the front of the building hence, Elkhorn Tavern. A few years ago, on of Maxwell’s descendents took the elk horns and placed them over his drug store in Paducah.

In 1951 the Cherokee Historical Society under the leadership of McKinley Ross, a great-great-grandson of John Ross retraced the Trail of Tears on its 113th anniversary.

Ross and members of the society made many pictures at Elkhorn Tavern and counted that site of prime historical importance. John Ross’ wife died after they left Hopkinsville and tradition has it that several Cherokees were buried in the meadow across the creek from Elkhorn Tavern.

One of the important histories of the Trail of Tears was written by Private John G. Burnett, who was one of the soldiers who served under Capt. Abraham McClellan of the 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Mounted Infantry. He was a friend of the Cherokees and talked their language. His story is part of the official history of the Cherokee Nation and reads, “On the morning of November 17, we encountered a terrific sleet and snow storm with freezing temperatures and from that day until we reached the end of the fateful journey on March the 26th, 1839, the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. And I have known as many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold and exposure. Among this number was the beautiful Christian wife of Chief John Ross. This noble woman died a martyr to childhood, giving her only blanket for the protection of a sick child. She rode thinly clad through a blinding sleet and snow storm, developing pneumonia and died in the still hours of a bleak winter night with her head resting on Lieutenant Gregg’s saddle blanket.

“I made the journey to the west with the Cherokees and did all that a Private soldier could do to alleviate their suffering. When on guard duty at night I have many times walked my beat in my blouse in order that some sick child might have the warmth of my overcoat.”

The Trail of Tears leads from Elkhorn Tavern along the old Princeton-Fredonia Road to a point on Livingston Creek near the site of Centerville. There isn’t anything left of Centerville which was once the county seat of Livingston County except a lovely little cemetery and its cedars.

The deeply worn and for many years abandoned Centerville to Salem Road near Mexico, Ky., in Crittenden County, is the Trail of Tears.

Kentucky Trail of Tears Map

2006-10-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Trail of Tears Park Nears Completion

2006-10-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park is in the final stages of construction of the first phase. The first phase will include a pavillion in the shape of a tear-drop made of red paving brick and blue sandstone.
The project is being funding with local private donations.

The Trail Where They Cried

2006-10-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

THE TRAIL WHERE THEY CRIED

Known as the Trail Where They Cried, 13,149 men, women and children were taken on this forced removal, during the winter of 1838. Most detachments took what is known as the Northern Route. From Georgia, Tennessee and through the Hopkinsville, Ky. area, they headed into Caldwell County. Camping near the Big Spring for several weeks, they went on to Skin Frame Creek near the Elkhorn Tavern. Several people died and were buried there. The tavern was a good-sized log house, built around 1812 by James Blue. The Cherokees traveled onward to the Centerville area, near present day Fredonia, to camp at another spring. A historical marker stands on Highway 91 where the town was. From Centerville they traveled to Salem on a road near Mexico. They continued on the Old Golconda Road to cross the Ohio River by ferry.

Princeton Caldwell County Trail of Tears Commission

2006-10-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Princeton Caldwell County
Trail of Tears
Commission, Inc.

In 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were crying so much, they were unable to help their children survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign to give them strength. The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where the mother’s tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem represent the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears.

Historical Sites of Caldwell County
Trail of Tears

Wallonia
Otter Pond
Kenedy Creek
Indian Meadow
Big Spring
TOT Library Room
Glen Martin Library
Caldwell Creek
TOT Commemorative Park
Old Fredonia Road
Skinframe Creek
Crider
Old Mexico Road
Elkhorn Tavern
Centerville

TRAIL OF TEARS

The Trail of Tears was the forced removal of Cherokee Indians from their homelands in northwestern Georgia. The name comes from the Cherokee phrase nunna-da-ul-tsun-yi, which means the trail where they cried.
In 1829, white settlers discovered gold on Cherokee land. The settlers wanted the land for themselves and asked for the removal of the Cherokee. Supporters of President Andrew Jackson, who had been a famed Indian fighter, helped pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in Congress. The act called for the removal of all Indians in the Southeastern Unites States to a territory west of the Mississippi River. This included the Cherokee tribes and the Creek, Chickasaw, Seminoles, and the Chactaw. Their new land, in what is now Oklahoma, became know as the Indian Territory.

The Cherokee divided over the removal. In 1835, some agree to move and signed a treaty with the government, but most of the Indians, led by Cherokee leader John Ross, wanted to stay.

Beginning in May of 1838, the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee into stockades to prepare for the removal. The Army sent off the first group to Indian Territory on June 6th, 1838 and the last party arrived on March 24th, 1839. Sixteen thousand traveled nearly 1,000 miles through snow and ice.

Some groups walked or rode horseback through Tennessee, Kentucky, the southern tip of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and finally into Indian Territory. Of the 16,000 men, women, and children forced to be removed 4,000 died on the trail.Princeton is the site of Big Springs Park where the Cherokees are believed to have stopped. Princeton is planning a Trail of Tears Park on a donated lot across from the spring in order to showcase Princeton’s significance on the Trail of Tears. Elkhorn Tavern site in Crider is believed to be a campsite and burial site. The George Coon Public Library has provided space in the Genealogy Center for the Trail of Tears research.

TOT Park Sign - Caldwell County Students 2006

2006-10-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

Cherokee Rose Princeton 2006

2006-10-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of one of the cherokee rose blooms that I planted in My backyard in the fall of 2004. I planted four Cherokee Rose bushes; two in the front that I did not water and two on my rose garden that I did water. All of the bushes survived the winter and bloomed in March. They have very sharpe briars and long stems. It is planned to transplant these bushes to the Princeton Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in the Spring of 2007.

Trail of Tears Princeton

2006-10-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Princeton-Caldwell Coutny Trail of Tears Commission was established to preserve and develop the historical assets related to the Trail of Tears in the area so that future generations will not forget the events of 1838 and the removal of the Native American tribes from the land east of the Mississippi River.

Kentucky’s Trail of Tears should be preserved and developed because of its importance to our nation, our state, and our local community. Preservation of the Trail of Tears is not only an important part of Caldwell County history; it can be an important part of Princeton’s future. The National Trails System Act of 1993 (P.L. 90-543) was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress to establish a national trails system. Under the Act, the Trail of Tears is identified as one of our nations most important historic trails and a Trail of Tears Interpretive Center was established in Hopkinsville with federal funding. The Act encourages state and local governments to develop historic trails such as the Trail of Tears. The State of Kentucky should follow the nations lead and support Trail of Tears locally.

The Trail of Tears is nationally recognized and offers an excellent opportunity for drawing tourism from across the nation to this area. The trail passes through several Western Kentucky counties and its development can have a positive impact on tourism related businesses, particularly in Princeton.

Our Senator Dorsey Ridley passed a resolution in the Kentucky Senate supporting the preservation and promotion of the Trail of Tears. The trail should be preserved and developed such that hikers trail riders, and other outdoor enthusiast can enjoy the trail and its history. In addition such legislation could provide for Trail of Tears designation as a State Trail, highway access to trail entry points, tourism advertising support, marking highway signs, and mapping of the trail.

This nationally recognized trail is important to Caldwell County’s heritage and Princeton’s future. Organization of the trail should start at state level since it includes the communities from Guthrie, Kentucky to Cave In Rock, Illinois. We appreciate any assistance that you might provide to support further development of the Trail of Tears.