TRAIL OF TEARS
On Jan. 13, 1839, a group of 1,100 Cherokees led by John Benge passed through the frontier village of Fayetteville. They were traveling on the Trail of Tears from the Cherokee homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to 'Indian Territory' (Oklahoma), as part of the forced removal of nearly 13,000 Cherokees ordered by President Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Congress. The Benge party camped on the hillside to the north and east of this marker, near a creek and pond, secured supplies and repaired their wagons. They headed west on the Cane Hill road the next day, arriving in Indian Territory on Jan. 17, 1839.
This marker is located near the entrance wall of the University at the intersection of Sixth Street and Garland Avenue.