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On Monday, November 9, 2009 many years of work by the members of the Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association and many others culminated in the signing of a certification agreement between the National Park Service and the Cedartown City Commission. This agreement allows the Cedartown Removal Camp site to become a certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Cedartown camp was one of 14 Georgia camps and forts built by military forces for the Cherokee Removal. It is the southernmost camp or fort site on the Trail of Tears. The city of Cedartown owns the park where the Cedar Town Removal Camp was established in 1838.

This agreement will mark the first time a removal fort or removal camp site in Georgia has been included as part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Trail, which was originally established by an act of Congress in 1987, was expanded earlier this year to include Georgia. The Omnibus Public Lands Bill basically doubled the size of the Trail of Tears, incorporating the May, 1838 round-up event as part of the Trail of Tears story. Cedar Town now joins the Chief Vann House, the Chieftains Museum / Major Ridge Home, the Ross to Ridge Road, the Chief John Ross House and the New Echota State Historic Site on the list of official Trail of Tears certified sites in Georgia.

Between May and July, 1838, the United States military rounded up more than 3,000 members of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia and marched them to camps in Tennessee where they waited to be deported west. Order No. 34 came from the Eastern Division headquarters on May 24, 1838 and stated: “The commanding officer at every fort & open station will first cause to be surrounded & brought in as many Indians the nearest to his fort or station, as he may think he can secure at once, & repeat the operation until he shall have made as many provisions as he is able to subsist, & send off, under a proper escort, to the most convenient of the emigrating depots – the Cherokee Agency, Ross’ Landing, & Gunter’s Landing. These operations will be again and again repeated under the orders of the commander of the respective Districts, until the whole of the Indians shall have been collected for emigration.”

On the same day the Order was issued, Capt. Isaac S. Vincent’s company of 80 men made camp at Cedar Town and set out to capture the Cherokees who lived in this vicinity. By June 14, another order came to Capt. Vincent at Cedar Town: “You are hereby ordered immediately … to ascertain as nearly as possible if there are any Indians in your neighborhood yet at large, and how many, & cause them to be taken speedily.” By late June, the company had captured 199 Cherokees, some of whom were sick and could not be easily moved.

Cherokee citizen Daniel Pumpkin Pile, who was living at Cedar Town, stated in his claim filed in 1842 that "he was forced by the soldiers to move ... and that he was forced to leave all the property" he owned, including an axe, a plough, three acres of wheat, four head of horses, a saddle, a bridle, hogs and other belongings.” Additionally, he said three of his horses were "stolen by white men."

Another Cherokee living in Cedar Town, Ah Noo Yah, said in his claim that he was "rudely forced away from home by soldiers" and into a boat. Order No. 36 came from New Echota on June 21: “Capt. Vincent, commanding Georgia Infantry volunteers at Cedar Town will proceed with his company to Head Quarters and report himself without delay to the Brig. Genl. he will bring all the Indians in his possession, if any of them are sick, the sick will be brought in wagons.”

On June 26 1838, Vincent’s company mustered out of military service.
Hundreds of Cherokees died in the deportation camps from exposure, disease outbreaks and lack of sanitation. Several thousand died on their way to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
The agonizing journey of the Cherokees from their southeastern homeland to Indian Territory is known today as the Trail of Tears.
In recognition of Native American Heritage Month, the Cedartown City Commission has agreed to adopt the following resolution:

RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CEDARTOWN

WHEREAS, In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed a joint resolution designating November as National American Indian Heritage Month. In his proclamation for 1996, President Bill Clinton noted, “Against all odds, America’s first peoples have endured, and they remain a vital cultural, political, social and moral presence.”

WHEREAS, In 2008, the City of Cedartown and Polk County both issued proclamations recognizing 2008 as the 170th anniversary of the forced removal of the Cherokees from Georgia. Up until 1838, Cherokees were living and thriving in their homelands in the Southeast. They had a government similar to that of the United States. They were farmers, traders, ferry and inn operators; some were as wealthy if not more so than the white men encroaching on their land. By 1838, Cherokee territory had been reduced to northwest Georgia, northeast Alabama, and parts of Tennessee and North Carolina.

WHEREAS, In 1838, there were Cherokees living in what is now Cedartown and Polk County. The U. S. government built 10 fortified posts and 4 unfortified posts in Georgia to aid with the removal process. Camp Cedartown, located near the Big Spring, was one of the unfortified posts. According to current research, approximately 199 Cherokees were in custody at Cedartown in late June 1838.

WHEREAS, The Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association has worked for several years to get Camp Cedartown named a certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. When President Barack Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Bill into law on March 30, 2009 Georgia was officially added to the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. This opened the way for certification of important removal sites in Georgia.

NOW, THEREFORE, in recognition of American Indian Heritage Month and to honor the Cherokees who lived here, whose descendants still live, work and play among us, and the Cherokee Nation, which has not only persevered through adversity but has thrived while maintaining its identity, culture and heritage, the City of Cedartown is pleased to sign this

CERTIFICATION AGREEMENT WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO CERTIFY CAMP CEDARTOWN ON THE TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL.

Adopted this 9th Day of November, 2009.