Resources

Missouri Trail of Tears Resources

Our Shared Google Drive

Our shared archive of documents and maps relating to the Trail of Tears in Missouri

Organizations

• Trail of Tears Association (National)
  • 25th Annual Conference & Symposium Program (pdf)
• Missouri Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association (MO-ToTA)
• State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSM)
• SHSM Trail of Tears Collection
• Missouri Humanities Council (MHC)
• MHC’s Native American Heritage Program
• US National Park Service Trail of Tears Portal

Social Media

• MO S&T Trail of Tears Mapping Project
• MHC’s Facebook Page
• MO ToTA Facebook Page
• NTOTA Facebook Page

Sites Along the Trail of Tears

• Snelson-Brinker House Historic Structure Report – MTSU Center for Historic Preservation (PDF)
• Trail of Tears State Park – Missouri Dept. of Conservation

The Cherokee Tribe

• Learn the Cherokee Language

Trail of Tears Interactive Map Sites

• Journey of Survival – Arkansas (Excellent Web Map)
• MHC’s Re-Discovering the Trail of Tears in Missouri – Esri Story Map Platform

Geospatial Techniques and Technology

• 3D Modelling and Visualization in Field Archaeology. From Survey To Interpretation Of The Past Using Digital Technologies

US National Park Service

• National Park Service Mobile App
• National Scenic and Historic Trail Inventory, Assessment, and Monitoring (PDF)
• National Park Service GIS Data Download
• National Park Service Trail of Tears “Paper Map” Download (PDF)
• National Park Service Trail of Tears Newsletter – Spring 2022
• NPS: Rivers, Rails & Roads: Transportation During the Cherokee Removal, 1837-1839 (PDF)

Books

• Brown’s Boundary Controls and Legal Principles (Search)
• A History of the Rectangular Survey System (PDF)

Video Presentations

Missouri State Archives – Finding the Trail of Tears in Missouri – Bill Ambrose

Finding the Trail of Tears in Missouri (YouTube) & Trail of Tears Resources

Following the passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act, federal authorities forcibly removed approximately 60,000 Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to the Indian Territory in what is today Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Among those compelled to relocate were the Cherokee, many of whom began the long, perilous trek in the winter of 1837. After departing from northern Georgia and southeastern Tennessee with inadequate food and clothing, they traveled northwest overland through Kentucky and Illinois before crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri.

The Missouri State Archives’ early State Road Surveys contain contemporaneous maps of the routes the Cherokee traveled through the state, also identifying the homes of Missourians that supplied them, aiding their survival during the epic tragedy. Join us on Facebook Live for a program from Bill Ambrose, member and board secretary of the Trail of Tears Association’s Missouri Chapter, in which he will detail his research using these previously overlooked records.

A General YouTube Search for Trail of Tears Videos (YouTube)

Videos

D I G A D O H I: Lands, Cherokee and the Trail of Tears – By Stratigraphic Productions. DIGADOHI means lands in Cherokee and the story of their removal is recorded in the archaeology at places like the Snelson-Brinker farm in Missouri, and in the traditions and family histories of the Cherokee today. 

Trail of Tears Resources

If you have any suggestions, comments, or critiques please email Chris.Dunn@GeoVelo.com

Links you might enjoy:

Related Pages:

• Cave Spring on a State Road Survey
• Home
• How to Build a Trail of Tears Vignette
• The Trail of Tears Followed a New Missouri Road
• DIGADOHI