Trail of Tears

The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation

Author John Ehle
A sixth-generation North Carolinian, highly-acclaimed author John Ehle grew up on former Cherokee hunting grounds. His experience as an accomplished novelist, combined with his extensive, meticulous research, culminates in this moving tragedy rich with historical detail.

The Cherokee are a proud, ancient civilization. For hundreds of years they believed themselves to be the "Principle People" residing at the center of the earth. But by the 18th century, some of their leaders believed it was necessary to adapt to European ways in order to survive. Those chiefs sealed the fate of their tribes in 1875 when they signed a treaty relinquishing their land east of the Mississippi in return for promises of wealth and better land. The U.S. government used the treaty to justify the eviction of the Cherokee nation in an exodus that the Cherokee will forever remember as the “trail where they cried.” The heroism and nobility of the Cherokee shine through this intricate story of American politics, ambition, and greed.


B & W photographs
John Ehle, a sixth-generation North Carolinian, grew up on land once used as hunting grounds by the Cherokee. He is the author of 14 highly acclaimed works, including The Free Men and Lion on the Hearth. His novel The Winter People has been made into a major motion picture. Ehle has won a number of literary awards including the Thomas Wolfe Prize, the Mayflower Award for Nonfiction, and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. View titles by John Ehle

About

A sixth-generation North Carolinian, highly-acclaimed author John Ehle grew up on former Cherokee hunting grounds. His experience as an accomplished novelist, combined with his extensive, meticulous research, culminates in this moving tragedy rich with historical detail.

The Cherokee are a proud, ancient civilization. For hundreds of years they believed themselves to be the "Principle People" residing at the center of the earth. But by the 18th century, some of their leaders believed it was necessary to adapt to European ways in order to survive. Those chiefs sealed the fate of their tribes in 1875 when they signed a treaty relinquishing their land east of the Mississippi in return for promises of wealth and better land. The U.S. government used the treaty to justify the eviction of the Cherokee nation in an exodus that the Cherokee will forever remember as the “trail where they cried.” The heroism and nobility of the Cherokee shine through this intricate story of American politics, ambition, and greed.


B & W photographs

Author

John Ehle, a sixth-generation North Carolinian, grew up on land once used as hunting grounds by the Cherokee. He is the author of 14 highly acclaimed works, including The Free Men and Lion on the Hearth. His novel The Winter People has been made into a major motion picture. Ehle has won a number of literary awards including the Thomas Wolfe Prize, the Mayflower Award for Nonfiction, and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. View titles by John Ehle

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