How many indians died during the trail of tears

Due to the poor sanitation of the internment camps, deadly diseases such as whooping cough, measles and dysentery spread among the Cherokee. In June , three military-led migrations departed present-day Chattanooga, Tennessee, to journey westward by both land and water.

Stifling summer heat and a record drought proved deadly as drinking water for both people and horses drew scarce. While only 21 Cherokee died in the four voluntary migrations, more than perished in the three military-led expeditions.

The sweltering temperatures forced the suspension of the relocations, and when they resumed that fall, Scott agreed to let the Cherokee oversee the rest of the exodus. Under the agreement, the remaining Cherokee were divided into 13 groups of approximately 1, people each that were led by Cherokee conductors.

Federal soldiers could only act as observers as a Cherokee police force kept order. These Cherokee-managed migrations were primarily land crossings, averaging 10 miles a day across various routes. Some groups, however, took more than four months to make the mile journey.

The three-mile-long Cherokee caravans required days to make river crossings and included one wagon for approximately every 20 people. While the oldest, youngest and sickest exiles rode in wagons, most made the crossing on foot, slogging through mud and snow. The Cherokee were ill-equipped for the grueling hike. White looters followed, ransacking homesteads as Cherokees were led away. Three groups left in the summer, traveling from present-day Chattanooga by rail, boat, and wagon, primarily on the Water Route.

But river levels were too low for navigation; one group, traveling overland in Arkansas, suffered three to five deaths each day due to illness and drought. Fifteen thousand captives still awaited removal. Crowding, poor sanitation, and drought made them miserable. Many died. The Cherokees asked to postpone removal until the fall, and to voluntarily remove themselves. The delay was granted, provided they remain in internment camps until travel resumed.

By November, 12 groups of 1, each were trudging miles overland to the west. The last party, including Chief Ross, went by water. Now, heavy autumn rains and hundreds of wagons on the muddy route made roads impassable; little grazing and game could be found to supplement meager rations. Two-thirds of the ill-equipped Cherokees were trapped between the ice-bound Ohio and Mississippi Rivers during January.

Some drank stagnant water and succumbed to disease. One survivor told how his father got sick and died; then, his mother; then, one by one, his five brothers and sisters. Then all are gone. People feel bad when they leave Old Nation.

Womens cry and make sad wails. Children cry and many men cry Many days pass and people die very much. By March , all survivors had arrived in the west. No one knows how many died throughout the ordeal, but the trip was especially hard on infants, children, and the elderly. Missionary doctor Elizur Butler, who accompanied the Cherokees, estimated that over 4, died- nearly a fifth of the Cherokee population.

Tahlequah, Oklahoma was its capital. In the Georgia legislature annexed Cherokee territory. The Cherokee resisted, using American courts to argue that they were a sovereign nation. The U. Supreme Court agreed in Worcester v. Acting under the Indian Removal Act of , the U. An unauthorized Cherokee faction signed the Treaty of New Echota in , which exchanged Cherokee lands in the east for land in Indian Territory and money to help them with relocation.

Most Cherokees refused to move, and in May of federal troops began to round up the Cherokees and imprison them in stockades to await removal. Many died in the stockades as they waited. Most made the journey on foot. Rebecca Neugin, who was a child when she and her family were forced to remove, stated that although she and her smaller siblings were able to ride in a wagon, her mother, father, and older brother walked all the way.

The Cherokee nation was not the only Native American culture to be removed westward in the 19th century. Perhaps as many as , First Peoples were pushed out of their traditional lands, and the death toll from these forced removals reached far into the thousands.