Old Trace Exhibit

"HEMONA KA ONAHLÍ TÖK. This is Chickasaw, meaning, 'Once I was there.'

"Today we are in land that belonged to the Chickasaws before the tribe's removal along the "Trail of Tears" in 1837.

"Possibly the worst events of the Indian Removal from the Southeast in the1830s occurred to the Cherokee Indians, removed at bayonet point by the American army in the dead of the winter 1838-39; There were 645 wagons filled with a freezing human cargo. It was so sudden that many were barefoot and without blankets against the cold. 4000 Cherokee died of starvation and exposure and disease along the infamous trail. Today few remember. And when we do, the memory is cloaked with the romantic title THE TRAIL OF TEARS -- Tears without pity -- tears of sorrow and pain and suffering -- tears of loss.

(SONG CLIP PERFORMED HERE)

Never will my spirit ever drift so far away
You will not find me in the wind and the silence.
You will not think of me each day,
And never know my name;
But I was there, once I was there,
And I walked upon the water.

"Join us next time when we visit Sheboss Place. For Natchez Trace, a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com