Major Ridge, The Ridge (and sometimes Pathkiller II) (c. 1771 – 22 June 1839) (also known as ''Nunnehidihi'', and later ''Ganundalegi'') was a
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
leader, a member of the
tribal
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
council, and a lawmaker. As a warrior, he fought in the
Cherokee–American wars
The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...
against American frontiersmen. Later, Major Ridge led the Cherokee in alliances with General
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
and the United States in the
Creek and
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
wars of the early 19th century.
Along with
Charles R. Hicks and
James Vann, Ridge was part of the "Cherokee triumvirate," a group of rising younger chiefs in the early nineteenth-century
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...
who supported acculturation and other changes in how the people dealt with the United States. All identified as Cherokee; they were of
mixed race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
and had some exposure to European-American culture. Ridge became a wealthy
planter,
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
owner, and
ferryman
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
in Georgia.
Under increasing pressure for removal from the federal government, Ridge and others of the Treaty Party signed the controversial
Treaty of New Echota
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party.
The treaty established terms ...
of 1835. They believed removal was inevitable and tried to protect Cherokee rights in the process. It required the Cherokee to cede their remaining lands in the Southeast to the US and to relocate to
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
west of the Mississippi River. Opponents strongly protested to the US government and negotiated a new treaty the following year, but were still forced to accept removal. Blamed for the ceding of communal land and the deaths of the
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
, Ridge was assassinated in 1839 by members of the Ross faction who believed they were acting in accordance with the Cherokee Blood Law.
Background
Early life
Ridge was born about 1772 into the Deer
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
of his mother, ''Oganotota'' (O-go-nuh-to-tua), a Scots-Cherokee woman, in the Cherokee town of
Great Hiwassee
Great Hiwassee ( chr, ᎠᏴᏩᏏ ᎢᏆᎭ, translit=Ayvwasi Egwaha) was an important Overhill settlement from the late 17th through the early 19th centuries. It was located on the Hiwassee River in present-day Polk County, Tennessee, on ...
, along the
Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in the northern area of the State of Georgia. It flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee Riv ...
(an area later part of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
).
[Thurman Wilkins, ''Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People''](_blank)
University of Oklahoma Press, 1989, p. 7 His father was believed to be full-blood Cherokee. Ridge's maternal grandfather was a Scots trader who returned to Europe and left a Cherokee wife and daughter behind in America.
[Langguth, p. 29.]
Ridge was the third son born, but the first to survive to adulthood. He had two younger brothers, one of whom became known as
David Uwatie
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(or Watie). From his early years, Ridge was taught patience and self-denial, and to endure fatigue. On reaching the proper age, he was initiated as a
warrior
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
.
The Cherokee believed that a man's achievements as a warrior were a sign of his spiritual power and part of his leadership.
Until the end of the Cherokee – American wars, the young man was known as ''Nunnehidihi'', meaning "He Who Slays The Enemy In His Path"
or "The Pathkiller" (not the same as another chief of the same name). Later Ridge was named ''Ganundalegi'' (other spellings include Ca-Nun-Tah-Cla-Kee, Ca-Nun-Ta-Cla-Gee, and Ka-Nun-Tah-Kla-Gee), meaning "The Man Who Walks On The Mountain Top Ridge." White men knew him by the simplified English name, "The Ridge".
Marriage and family
In 1792, Ridge married ''Sehoya,'' also known as Suzannah Catherine Wickett, a mixed-blood Cherokee of the Wild Potato
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
. Her name was also spelled Sehoyah; she was the daughter of Kate Parris and ''Ar-tah-ku-ni-sti-sky'' ("Wickett"). The couple had several children, including
John Ridge
John Ridge, born ''Skah-tle-loh-skee'' (ᏍᎦᏞᎶᏍᎩ, Yellow Bird) ( – 22 June 1839), was from a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, then located in present-day Georgia. He went to Cornwall, Connecticut, to study at the Foreign Mis ...
. They sent him in 1819 as a young man to
Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census.
History
The town of Cornwall, Connecticut, is named after the county of Cornwall, England. The town was incorporated in 1740, near ...
to be educated in European-American classical studies at the
Foreign Mission School
The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution which operated between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut. It was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The ABCFM was focused on sending missionaries ...
.
After the Cherokee–American wars, the Ridges lived in the Cherokee town of Oothcaloga. (The modern city of
Calhoun, Georgia
Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,949. Calhoun is the county seat of Gordon County.
History
In December 1827, Georgia had already claimed the Cherokee lands that be ...
developed near here.) About 1819, they moved near the Cherokee town of Chatuga (modern-day
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
) at the confluence of the
Oostanaula and
Etowah rivers, which forms the
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011
...
. Ridge acquired 223 acres that fronted on the Oostanaula River, upstream of the confluence.
Starting with a log dogtrot house on the property, Ridge expanded the house to a two-story white frame house with extensions on either end.
[ and ] Like European-American planters, Ridge used enslaved African Americans to work the cotton fields on his plantation. Nearby, Ridge's protégé
John Ross had established his own home and plantation.
Ridge had no formal education and could neither read nor write. But he was known as a noted orator and dynamic speaker. Ridge appreciated the value of education and believed that the Cherokee must learn to communicate with European Americans and to understand their ways in order to survive as a nation. He sent his son John to a mission boarding school at Springhill.
Young warrior
In addition to participating in small raids and other actions, ''Nunnehidihi'' took part in the attack on Gillespie's Station and in Watts' raids in the winter of 1788–1789; the attack on Buchanan's Station in 1792; the campaign against the settlements of Upper East Tennessee in 1793 (that resulted in the massacre and destruction of Cavett's Station); and the so-called "
Battle of Hightower" at Etowah. (Before the 1793 campaigns, he had taken part in a horse-stealing raid against the
Holston River
The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...
settlements, where two European-American pioneers were killed.)
At age 21, ''Nunnehidihi'' was chosen as a member of the Cherokee Council. He proved a valuable counselor, and at the second session proposed many useful laws.
After the Cherokee–American wars, he changed his name to ''Ganundalegi'', which in English was translated as "He Who Walks On The Ridge".
With the massacre at Cavett's Station, a personal feud developed between The Ridge and
Chief Doublehead. The latter had promised to spare the post if the three white men who lived there surrendered. But, after the men agreed to surrender, Doublehead changed his mind and ordered that all the inhabitants be killed, including thirteen women and children. This act disgusted The Ridge, who felt it dishonored the tribe. Frontiersmen pursued Ridge's band, catching them at Coyatee (near the mouth of the
Little Tennessee River
The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portio ...
). They killed several leading
Chickamauga Cherokee
The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...
and wounded others, including
Hanging Maw
Hanging Maw, or ''Uskwa'li-gu'ta'' in Cherokee, was the leading chief of the Overhill Cherokee from 1788 to 1794. They were located in present-day southeastern Tennessee. He became chief following the death of Old Tassel, and the abandonment of ...
, the chief headman of the
Overhill Towns.
In 1807, Doublehead was bribed by white speculators to
cede some Cherokee communal land without approval by the Cherokee National Council. The Council determined this to be a
capital crime
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
against the nation, and directed Ridge,
James Vann, and Alexander Sanders to execute Doublehead. (Vann became too drunk to participate. The other two men used guns, knives, and a tomahawk to kill the old chief on August 9, 1807, at the Hiwassee Garrison in Tennessee).
Shortly before the War of 1812, Shawnee chief
Tecumseh
Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...
and his brother, ''
Tenskawatawa'' (also called "The Prophet"), came south to recruit other tribes to unite and together prevent the sale of their lands to white immigrants. Tecumseh urged his listeners to reject subservience to the United States, reject the white man's agrarian lifestyle, return to their traditional lifestyles, and take up weapons to defend their lands. Ridge attended as an observer when Tecumseh spoke to the
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands[Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...]
at the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the
Creek War
The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...
against the
Red Sticks
Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made u ...
. This was a civil war within the Creek Nation between the Upper Towns and Lower Towns, who differed in their interaction with European Americans and hold on to tradition. Ridge had joined the campaign as an unofficial militia lieutenant. (Jackson was involved with the larger
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
against Great Britain.) Ridge used Major as his first name for the rest of his life. He also served with Jackson in the
First Seminole War
The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...
in 1818, leading Cherokee warriors on behalf of the US government against the
Seminole Indians
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
in Florida. His war achievements added to his stature among the Cherokee.
After the war, Ridge moved his family to the Cherokee town of Head of Coosa (present-day
Rome, Georgia
Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...
). He developed a
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, owned 30
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
slaves as laborers, and became a wealthy planter. The plantation consisted of nearly three hundred cleared acres; its main cash crops were corn, tobacco, and cotton. He built his house. Major Ridge also developed and owned a profitable ferry that carried wagons and their teams across the
Oostanuaula River. As another business, Ridge founded a trading post in partnership with George Lavender, a white man; the post provided staples and luxury European-American goods such as calico and silk fabrics.
In 1816, Andrew Jackson tried to persuade the
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...
and Cherokee nations to sell their lands in the Southeast and move west of the Mississippi River. He was rebuffed by most of the Cherokee chiefs at a council in Mississippi. They told him that he must meet with Chief
Pathkiller
Pathkiller, (died January 8, 1827) was a Cherokee warrior and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Warrior life
PathkillerPathkiller is a Cherokee rank or title—not a name. His original name is unknown. fought against the Overmountain Men ...
at a Cherokee council in
Turkeytown.
Cherokee removal
Ridge had long opposed U.S. government proposals for the Cherokee to sell their lands and
remove to the West. But, Georgia efforts to suppress the Cherokee government and the pressure of rapidly expanding European-American settlements caused him to change his mind. Advised by his son
John Ridge
John Ridge, born ''Skah-tle-loh-skee'' (ᏍᎦᏞᎶᏍᎩ, Yellow Bird) ( – 22 June 1839), was from a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, then located in present-day Georgia. He went to Cornwall, Connecticut, to study at the Foreign Mis ...
, Major Ridge came to believe the best way to preserve the Cherokee Nation was to get good terms from the U.S. government and preserve their rights in
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
.
On December 29, 1835, Ridge made his mark on the
Treaty of New Echota
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party.
The treaty established terms ...
, which ceded the remainder of Cherokee tribal land east of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
for land in Indian Territory, to be supplemented by the payment of annuities for a period of time, plus support from the government in terms of supplies, tools and food. The tribe was bitterly divided over this decision. Reportedly, Ridge said as he finished, "I have signed my death warrant."
The National Party of Chief
John Ross and a majority of the Cherokee National Council rejected the treaty, but it was ratified by the
US Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
. The next year Ross negotiated changes with the US government, but essentially Cherokee removal was confirmed.
Ridge, his family, and many other Cherokee emigrated to the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
in March 1837. The treaty had been signed in December 1835 and was amended and ratified in March 1836. Georgia illegally put Cherokee lands in a lottery and auctioned them off even before the Cherokee removal date; settlers started arriving and squatting on Cherokee-occupied land. Georgia supported the settlers against the Cherokee. After 1838, the US government forcibly rounded up the remaining Cherokee (along with their slaves) on tribal lands. They were the last of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast to make the journey that became known as the "
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
," during which nearly 4,000 Cherokee died.
Accompanied by his wife, daughter, and one of son John's children, Major Ridge traveled by flatboat and steamer to a place in Indian Territory called Honey Creek, near the Arkansas-Missouri Border. The land Ridge had chosen was fifty miles from the territory assigned to the Cherokee. He no longer wished to live among his people. His son John Ridge and Major Ridge's cousin
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot ( ; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (more accurately referred to as the Congress of the Confederation) and served as Presiden ...
followed six months later.
Execution
In the West, the Ross faction blamed Ridge and the other signers of the Treaty of New Echota for the 4,000 deaths along the trail in the
Removal, as well as the loss of communal lands, which was held to be a capital crime. In June 1839, Major Ridge, his son John, and nephew
Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot ( ; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (more accurately referred to as the Congress of the Confederation) and served as Presiden ...
, were executed in accordance with the Cherokee Blood Law by members of the Ross faction. Ridge was killed while riding along a road,
a group of five men waited with rifles in bushes under trees firing several gunshots at him, with five bullets piercing his head and body leaving the body slumped in saddle.
The Ross faction also tried to kill Elias' brother
Stand Watie
Brigadier-General Stand Watie ( chr, ᏕᎦᏔᎦ, translit=Degataga, lit=Stand firm; December 12, 1806September 9, 1871), also known as Standhope Uwatie, Tawkertawker, and Isaac S. Watie, was a Cherokee politician who served as the second princ ...
, but he survived. Other Treaty Party members were later killed, starting a wave of violence within the nation.
Among Ridge's killers was Bird Doublehead. Ridge had killed his father Chief Doublehead under orders by the National Council. Another of his killers was James Foreman, Bird's half-brother. In 1842 Stand Watie, Ridge's nephew, killed Foreman. In 1845 opponents killed his younger brother, Thomas Watie. The cycle of retaliatory violence within the Cherokee resulted in the deaths of all the other Watie family males of that generation. Stand Watie survived the violence of the 1840s, when the Cherokee conflict descended into virtual civil war. In the 1850s, Watie was tried in Arkansas for Foreman's murder, but he was acquitted on grounds of self-defense; he was defended by his brother Elias' son,
Elias Cornelius Boudinot
Elias Cornelius Boudinot (August 1, 1835September 27, 1890) was an American politician, lawyer, newspaper editor, and co-founder of the ''Arkansan'' who served as the delegate to the Confederate States House of Representatives representing the ...
.
Tribal divisions were exacerbated by the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Many Cherokee supported the Confederacy, despite the Southern governments having pushed them out. The Confederacy officials now said they would recognize an independent Indian state if successful in creating an independent nation. Stand Watie served as Principal Chief (1862-1866) of the pro-Confederate Cherokee after Ross and many Union-supporters withdrew to another location. He served as a
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
general and was the last to surrender to Union troops.
Burial
Ridge and his son John are buried in Polson Cemetery in
Delaware County, Oklahoma
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,487. Its county seat is Jay. The county was named for the Delaware Indians, who had established a village in the area prior to the ...
. After his nephew Stand Watie died later of natural causes, he was buried near them.
"Stand Watie," Oklahoma Civil War Sesquicentennial. Franks, Kenny.
Retrieved January 30, 2016.
Legacy
*Major Ridge's home was bought and preserved by the Junior League of Rome in the 1960s. It was opened to visitors in 1971 as the Chieftains Museum
Chieftains Museum, also known as the Major Ridge Home, is a two-story white frame house built around a log house of 1792 in Cherokee country (today it is within present-day Rome, Georgia, United States of America). It was the home of the Cherokee ...
. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, renamed to include "Major Ridge Home" in the title. It is listed as one of the sites on the Cherokee Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
National Historic Trail
The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...
, administered by the National Park Service.
*Ridge's life and the Trail of Tears are dramatized in Episode 3 of Ric Burns' documentary, ''We Shall Remain
''We Shall Remain'' (2009) is a five-part, 7.5-hour documentary series about the history of Native Americans in the United States, from the 17th century into the 20th century. It was a collaborative effort with several different directors, writ ...
'' (2009), which recounts Native American history in the United States from the 17th into the 20th century, as part of the ''American Experience
''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' programs on PBS.
Sarah (Sally) Ridge
See also
* Chieftains Museum (Major Ridge Home), present-day Rome, Georgia
*Timeline of Cherokee removal
This is a timeline of events in the history of the ''Cherokee Nation'', from its earliest appearance in historical records to modern court cases in the United States. Some basic content about the removal of other southeastern tribes to lands ...
Footnotes
References
Sources
*Arbuckle, Gen Matthew: "Intelligence report and correspondence concerning unrest in Cherokee Nation," ''Congressional Serial Set 365, 26th Congress, House Document 129 ''.
*Brown, John P, ''Old Frontiers: The Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of Their Removal to the West, 1838''. Kingsport, TN: Southern Publishers, 1938 (New York: Arno Press Reprint Edition, 1971).
*Dale, Edwards Everett. ''Cherokee Cavaliers; Forty Years of Cherokee History as Told in the Correspondences of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot Family,'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1939.
*Ehle, John. ''Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation''. New York: Doubleday, 1988. .
*Hicks, Brian. '' "Toward the Setting Sun": John Ross, the Cherokees, and the Trail of Tears.'' New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011.
*Langguth, A. J. ''Driven West: Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears to the Civil War''. New York, Simon & Schuster. 2010. .
*Wilkins, Thurman. ''Cherokee Tragedy''. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1970).
External links
"Major Ridge"
''New Georgia Encyclopedia''
"Major Ridge''
About North Georgia
Paul Ridenour website
Major Ridge
historical marker
Chieftains
historical marker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridge, Major
1771 births
1839 deaths
1839 murders in the United States
Cherokee slave owners
Chickamauga Cherokee
Assassinated American people
Murdered Native American people
Cherokee Nation politicians (1794–1907)
People of the Creek War
Native Americans of the Seminole Wars
People murdered in Oklahoma
People from Rome, Georgia
Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma
People of Indian Territory
18th-century Native Americans