P
March
The Cherokee arrive in Indian Territory.
After months of travel (see entry for MAY 1838), the
majority of the Cherokee reach Indian Territory.
Although estimates vary, about 4,000 Cherokee—
one out of every four who traveled west—did not
survive the trip. Corrupt officials stole much of
the food and supplies allocated for Indians, caus-
ing many to fall victim to disease and starvation.
Because of the misery they suffered on the long
journey, the Cherokees refer to it as Nunna Daul
Tsunyi, “the trail where they cried.” Among non-
Indians, the tragedy becomes known as the Trail of
Tears. Although other southeastern Indian tribes,
such as the Choctaw and Creek, have similarly
horrendous experiences during their relocation to
the west, the Cherokee’s Trail of Tears becomes the
most infamous example of the abusive treatment of
Indians during the Removal era.
June 22
Three Cherokee leaders are assassinated.
At daybreak, the house of John Ridge, the leader
of the Cherokee’s Treaty faction, is surrounded by
25 members of the opposing National faction. The
men storm the house, drag Ridge out of his bed,
and stab him repeatedly while his family looks on
in horror. The assassins then march in single file
by the body, each taking the opportunity to stomp
on it. At the same time, two more assassination
parties fall on Ridge’s father, Major Ridge, and his
cousin Elias Boudinot. Another target for assas-
sination, Ridge’s cousin Stand Watie, manages to
escape.
The brutal murders are a result of the enormous
political schism between the Cherokee of the Na-
tional party—traditionalists who had opposed the
Treaty of New Echota (see entry for DECEMBER 25,
1835)—and those of the Treaty party—reformists,
many of mixed Indian-white ancestry, who had
supported it. John Ross, the National leader and
principal chief of the tribe (see entry for 1828),
claims he had no prior knowledge of the attacks,
but he stymies the efforts of federal authorities to
find and prosecute the assassins.“I may yet die some day at the
hand of some poor, infatuated
Indian deluded by the counsels
of [John] Ross and his min-
ions.... I am resigned to my
fate, whatever it may be.”
—John Ridge, predicting his
assassination, at signing of the
Treaty of New Echota1840A campaign slogan celebrates William Henry
Harrison as an Indian fighter.
In the presidential campaign of 1840, the Whig
Party sells its candidates, former Indiana Territory
governor William Henry Harrison and his running
mate John Tyler, as friends of the frontiersman.
Using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too,” the
party reminds voters of Harrison’s defeat of Tecum-
seh’s Indian forces at the Battle of Tippicanoe (see
entry for NOVEMBER 7, 1811).1841A hymnal in Cree syllabics is published.
James Evans, a Methodist missionary working
among the northern Cree in Canada, develops a
syllabic system to represent the Cree language. A
hymnal Evans publishes introduces this writing
system throughout Cree territory. Largely because
many of Evans’s symbols are adapted from those al-
ready used by the Cree, the Indians quickly embrace
the syllabary. By the late 19th century, the Cree will
have one of the world’s highest literacy rates. Evans’s