What is the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail?
The phrase Trail of Tears is often used as a metaphor for all Indian Removal from the southeast states to the Indian Territory that is now eastern Oklahoma. But the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, as created by Congress in 1987 [Public law 100-192], has a much more narrow definition. TOTNHT is “a trail consisting of water routes and overland routes traveled by the Cherokee Nation during its removal from ancestral lands in the East to Oklahoma during 1838 and 1839,” as described in a June 1986 final report by the National Park Service. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is part of the National Trails System, which includes legislatively-designated recreation, scenic and historic trails. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is administered by the National Park Service but depends on partnerships with federal, state and local agencies, private landowners, and interested individuals such as the volunteers with the Trail of Tears Association. The Trail of Tears Nationa
