I usually read Bruce Voyles’ local history column (in the Cherokee Scout every other week) and give him a little leeway on historical accuracy, figuring that he is not a trained historian, but instead a local, well-meaning person trying to tell a story, occasionally taking some liberty with the facts, as facts don’t always make for a good story.
However, I must take exception to his most recent article on New Year’s Eve 2025 regarding the Trail of Tears. He correctly states that forcing Native Americans from their homes and forcing them to walk from western North Carolina, Georgia, east Tennessee and Florida was inhuman. He agrees that there were deaths but downplays the actual reported number, making the false claim that it was “nothing near the numbers quoted in documentaries pertaining to the Cherokee removal, which claim one out of four (4,000 deaths).”
Five Native American Nations were removed from the Southeast United States by the “Indian Removal Act of 1830 – Cherokee, Muskogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations – making up about 60,000 people, men, women and children.
The Cherokee left the holding areas in east Tennessee in November 1838. Many were underdressed and often had no shoes, definitely not prepared for a trip of 900 miles in cold weather on foot. Many died of exposure and many from disease. Some were even murdered along the way.
Many died of disease shortly after they arrived in Oklahoma, which may be the reason Voyles’ missed counting their deaths, because it appears he ended his death count upon arrival in Oklahoma.
The Cherokees were the last Nation to be relocated in 1838. Initially, about 20,000 Cherokees had left for Oklahoma on their own and the rest were forcibly relocated and based on most accepted historical reports about 4,000 (25% of the total) perished as a result.
It has actually been reported that Winfred Scott, commander of the removal, actually halted the removal temporarily because so many were dying.
Overall, the death count that is accepted by historians and the federal government is as follows:
- Choctaw: 2,000 – 4,000 mostly from disease.
- Creek: 3,500 – 4,500 mostly from disease.
- Chickasaw: 500 – 800, mostly from disease.
- Cherokee: 4,000 – 8,000, disease and exposure.
- Seminole: 5,500, mostly by war and some disease.
The writer is resident of Young Harris, Ga.