Fort Butler was an important site during the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

removal known as the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. Located on a hill overlooking present-day

Murphy, North Carolina Murphy is a town in and the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Hiwassee River, Hiwassee and Valley River, Valley rivers. It is the westernmost county seat in the state of North ...

on the

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

, Fort Butler was the headquarters of the Eastern Division of the U.S. Army overseeing the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

. It was the military force charged with forcing Cherokee emigration. Fort Butler was located along Hitchcock Street near Lakeside Street in what in the 21st century is a private residential neighborhood. Down the hill from this location, Cherokee Street follows the route of the former Unicoi Turnpike along which the Cherokee were marched to

Fort Cass Fort Cass, named for U.S. Secretary of War Lewis Cass (1782–1866), was a fort located on the site of the U.S. federal agency to the Cherokee Nation (present-day Charleston, Tennessee). Established in 1835, the fort served as the U.S. Army he ...

and on to

Indian Territory 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 States, ...

. Fort Butler, originally named Camp Huntington, was established in July 1836 by General

John E. Wool John Ellis Wool (February 20, 1784 – November 10, 1869) was a US officer in the United States Army during three consecutive American-involved wars: the War of 1812 (1812–1815), the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), and with allegiance to ...

and a force of Tennessee volunteer militia sent to the region to keep order after the ratification of 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 ...

. The camp was abandoned after a month but then reoccupied in 1837 and renamed Fort Butler after

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general (United States), major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, ...

, Andrew Jackson’s attorney general. The site was of strategic importance because there the Unicoi Turnpike crossed the Hiwassee River at Christie Ford as well as the road up Valley River to the Cherokee "Valley Towns." In early 1838 it became clear that most Cherokee would not willingly leave their lands. After a deadline in May passed, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

prepared for forced removal. Fort Butler was enlarged with barracks, officers' quarters, offices, shops, kitchens, and other buildings. General

Abraham Eustis Abraham Eustis (March 26, 1786 – June 27, 1843) was a lawyer and notable U.S. Army officer, eventually rising to become a Brevet Brigadier General. He saw service in Florida and became a notable artillery specialist and the first commander ...

took command of the fort in late May 1838. Troops fresh from the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

in Florida were assigned to Fort Butler. The military removal of the Cherokee began in Georgia in late May, but reports of abuse and mistreatment of the prisoners caused General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

, the overall commander stationed at Fort Cass, to suspend operations until early June. Southwest North Carolina was one of the most densely populated regions of the Cherokee Nation and was believed to be an area with the potential for violent resistance. Therefore, General Scott travelled to Fort Butler in order to personally direct the roundup of Cherokee in the region, which began on June 12, 1838. During the early summer of 1838 more than 3,000 Cherokee prisoners from western North Carolina and northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

passed through Fort Butler en route, via the Unicoi Turnpike, to the larger internment camps at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Unlike the long imprisonment at Fort Cass, most of the prisoners spent only a few days at Fort Butler, although some remained for a few weeks. Approximately 1,000 prisoners were sent to Fort Butler from

Fort Hembree Tennessee militia established Fort Hembree southwest of the present town of Hayesville, North Carolina, in October 1837 to prepare for deporting local Cherokee Native Americans during the Trail of Tears. The fort was under the command of General ...

in present-day

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

. Today the site hosts the Fort Butler Memorial Park, which was erected in the 1970s.

References

{{coord, 35.0842, -84.0408, display=title, region:US-NC_type:landmark Buildings and structures in Cherokee County, North Carolina Butler (Murphy, North Carolina), fort History of North Carolina Trail of Tears Forced migrations in the United States Butler (Murphy, North Carolina), Fort 1836 establishments in North Carolina Military installations established in 1836