Trail of Tears Bicyclists Visit Local Marker Today, Community Members Plan to Show Support

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Bicyclists taking part in the “Remember the Removal” ride.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A group of about 20 bicyclists affiliated with the Cherokee Nation have been on a nearly 1000 mile journey, following the northern route of the historic Trail of Tears. The riders will pass through Benton and Washington Counties on Wednesday, June 18. The group will make at stop at the Trail of Tears Park and Historic Site at approximately 5 p.m. The park is located at 1100 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., on the corner with Stadium Drive, across the street from the Fayetteville High School.

Members of the campus and Northwest Arkansas communities are invited to show their support for the riders and the “Remember the Removal” ride. Jerry Hogan, president of the Washington County Historical Society, will greet the riders and tell them some of the local history of the Trail.

The members of the annual “Remember the Removal” ride have travelled from Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and will end their journey in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The purpose of the ride is to revisit the history and commemorate the experience of the forced removal of Indian nations from their traditional homes across the south to the Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. The many routes followed by the different Indian nations became known as the Trail of Tears.

Two contingents of Cherokees came through the Fayetteville area during the winter of 1838-39 on their way to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory, and briefly camped at the site of the Trail of Tears Park.