Remnants of fort along Trail of Tears yield relics, unique look at history (Tennessee)
COKER CREEK, Tenn. - It has been more than 170 years since the dark days of the Cherokees' forced removal from their lands in Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas.
Twenty-nine forts were used by the U.S. government to gather and temporarily house the migrating Cherokee, along with their families and slaves.
Cities with names like Hayesville and Murphy in North Carolina, Calhoun in Georgia, Charleston in Tennessee, and Fort Payne in Alabama have been built over most of these sites, so most of the physical fortifications have disappeared.
But remnants of one fort have been discovered in East Tennessee.
Because the Monroe County family that owned the property never plowed the land or used it for development, Cherokee National Forest archeologists are finding a treasure trove of historic relics from the former location of Fort Armistead.
The U.S. Forest Service purchased the 26-acre site in 2005 from Kenneth and Kathleen Dalton, and archeologists and volunteers began using metal detectors and controlled excavations to search in a grid pattern for artifacts.
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Twenty-nine forts were used by the U.S. government to gather and temporarily house the migrating Cherokee, along with their families and slaves.
Cities with names like Hayesville and Murphy in North Carolina, Calhoun in Georgia, Charleston in Tennessee, and Fort Payne in Alabama have been built over most of these sites, so most of the physical fortifications have disappeared.
But remnants of one fort have been discovered in East Tennessee.
Because the Monroe County family that owned the property never plowed the land or used it for development, Cherokee National Forest archeologists are finding a treasure trove of historic relics from the former location of Fort Armistead.
The U.S. Forest Service purchased the 26-acre site in 2005 from Kenneth and Kathleen Dalton, and archeologists and volunteers began using metal detectors and controlled excavations to search in a grid pattern for artifacts.