On the way out of Asheville, we drove by the Discount Tire Company to have our tires checked. I had two tires on the truck replaced and one tire on the trailer replaced ~ so we should be good for a while. While we were sitting in the truck waiting for the tire on the trailer to be replaced, we saw a wild turkey walking around the parking lot!

After paying for the tires, we hopped on the I-26 southbound out of Asheville to catch the Blue Ridge Parkway, which passes to the south of Asheville. It was a cloudy day with a "low ceiling". As we turned off the interstate, we were soon climbing up into the mountains and into the fog. We drove about 90 miles on the Parkway ~ seeing very little along the way. We came to the visitor's center near the end of the parkway and stopped to get some hot cider and hot chocolate.


At the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway is US Highway 441, which goes up to Gatlinburg. Actually, we turned the opposite direction because the town of Cherokee was just down the road and we found the fabulous Museum of the Cherokee Nation. I don't know where my mind was while in school, but I don't remember ever learning about the Cherokees and the "Trail of Tears". It was quite an "eye-opener".


First in the museum was a display of how the stories were passed from one generation to the next with lessons on how to live as a Cherokee person. Characters from the Cherokee stories also appear in their dances, masks, pottery designs, carvings and symbols woven into baskets, We were introduced to Cherokees who were key figures in their long history, such as "Dragging Canoe" and Sequoyah. Other exhibits included some of the legends of the Cherokee nation.



There were five major Indian nations east of the Mississippi River, the Creek, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Seminole and the Cherokee nations. But one by one, these nations signed treaties that required them to leave their native lands and move west of the Mississippi River.


There was a section about the "Trail of Tears". The town of Cherokee was one of the starting points of the trail. First of all, the majority of the Cherokee lived in three areas, called the Overhill, Middle and Lower Town, which are now parts Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. When European settlers first came to this area of what is now America, the Cherokee for the most part helped the settlers and there was cooperation between the two groups of people. But over the years, more and more Europeans came and began moving west onto what was traditionally Cherokee land. Some of the European and Cherokees intermarried and the Cherokees attended school. Some of the influential "Cherokee" diplomats like John Ross and Major Ridge went to Washington D.C. to plead with the American government to help maintain a separate Cherokee nation. They used legal jargon from both U.S. laws and treaties that had been made to enforce their argument for the Cherokee cause. However, the states ignored the treaties and began forcing Cherokees off their land.

The Treaty of Enchota was signed by the U.S. government and representatives of a minority of the Cherokee Nation. When it was learned that a treaty had been signed, John Ross, Cherokee Nation Chief, sent word to the Washington that the Cherokees had NOT signed the treaty. However, the government began enforcing the treaty. There were three reactions to being forced off their land. It is graphically depicted by this statue.


By 1830 only a handful of the Cherokees had relocated, so Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The Cherokee were forced off their lands by state and local militia. They had to move to lands that are west of the Mississippi River now Oklahoma by the Treaty of Enchota (1835). About 4,000 of 16,000 Cherokees perished while enroute.

Imagine being forced from your homelands and find out you are being forced to live in a land that you've never seen before.


At the end of the museum is a section on artifacts that have been found. The canoe shown here was found at the bottom of a nearby river - perfectly preserved.


Whew! That was quite an experience. We ate lunch in the parking lot of the museum before heading to Gatlinburg. We decided to take US441 instead of I-40. It would take us through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.


We finally hit the "summit", and pulled off (with about a thousand other people!) to get a picture. We weren't far from Gatlinburg and our campground now!