The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians

Summary

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was the culmination of the United States' policy to force native populations to relocate west of the Mississippi River. The most well-known episode in the eviction of American Indians was the "Trail of Tears" along which Southeastern Indians were driven from their homes in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, to reservations in present-day Oklahoma. But the struggle in the South was part of a wider story that reaches back in time to the War of 1812, back through many states and into the lives of so many tribes who were also forced to depart from their homes. The Other Trail of Tears by award-winning historian Mary Stockwell tells the story of this region's historic tribes as they struggled following the death of Tecumseh and the unraveling of his tribal confederacy in 1813. The book chronicles the history of Ohio's Indians and their interactions with settlers and US agents in the years leading up to their official removal, and sheds light on the complexities of the process. It is also the story of how the native tribes tried to come to terms with the fast pace of change on America's western frontier and the inevitable loss of their homelands. While the tribes often disagreed with one another, they attempted to move toward the best possible future for all their people against the relentless press of settlers and limited time.