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| Cherokee Chief Whitepath (standing) Cherokee Chief Fly Smith (with bowed head) Trail of Tears Park, Hopkinsville, Kentucky |
The Trail Goes On
The trail goes on.
But they stand at the end of their journey shivering in the
cold
Shaking with sickness that no leader should endure
The trail goes on.
But they stand upon this ground,
One with head bowed in silent acceptance, leaning on his
stick
The other with hands outstretched
Asking the Great Spirit to help him know the reason
For the grieving and the suffering of his people,
The women and children cry in their camp by the river
Stung by the frost aching from the lack of food
They look to their chiefs for answers
And in their eyes see only expressionless despair.
The trail goes on.
But two chiefs lie here in the stillness
Unable now to help their people
Throw off the oppression of the white man and his manifest
destiny
Their pain lives on in these figures
Silent now beneath the sun and the stars.
And the trail goes on.
~Thomas E. Morris, Jr., December 17, 1989
Cherokee Chief Whitepath
1761-1838
On our travels we are following along the Trail of Tears, in the footsteps of Chief Whitepath. Whitepath was born in 1761 near Ellijay, Georgia, our home town, in the area of the county that is now known as 'Whitepath'. He lived in this log cabin built by his parents:
This cabin was moved from the Ellijay area to Gainesville, Georgia on the site of the Northeast Georgia History Center, another connection we have to this chief, as this museum was built by Buddy.
Now we are near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and followed the signs to the Trail of Tears park there where we found the final resting place of Chief Whitepath, who became ill and died like so many Cherokees along the Trail of Tears.
National Park Service: Trail of Tears National Historic Trail:
A Journey of Injustice: Remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee
people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia ,
Alabama , and Tennessee
to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma .
They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839.
The park was deserted, the visitor's center closed up tight, the graves of the two chiefs are behind strong bars and looking neglected. It is a sad place, and not just because of the history, but it looks as those buried there are gone and forgotten.
