What is the Trail of Tears?
From 1837 to 1839, thousands of Cherokee traveled along local roads and through what is now Laughlin Park on their way to Indian Territory in the West. Some groups encamped here on their journey.
The Cherokee, or the "Principal People" or Ani'-Yun' wiya, did not willingly leave their homelands in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The 1830 Indian Removal Act required that they surrender their land. In the decade that followed, the federal government forcibly removed Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole from their homes in the Southeast and relocated them to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.
This tragic journey is called the Trail of Tears.
[Center map caption reads]
Waynesville and Roubidoux Creek lie along the northern route of the Trail of Tears. The northern route was used by 11 of the 17 Cherokee detachments. Other Indian nations followed different routes along their forced migration.
[Right map caption reads]
In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee; 21,000 Muscogee (Creek); 9,000 Choctaw; 6,000 Chickasaw; and 4,000 Seminole from their ancestral homes in the southeastern United States.
Erected 2015
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Disasters • Indigenous Peoples and Communities. In addition, it is included in the Trail of Tears series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1837.
Location. 37° 49.579′ N, 92° 12.216′ W. Marker is in Waynesville, Missouri, in Pulaski County. It is on Superior Road south of Old U.S. Route 66 (Business Interstate 44), on the right when traveling south. Marker is in Roy Laughlin Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Waynesville MO 65583, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Missouri. It is also in the American Ozarks, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within
Also see . . .
1. Laughlin Park & Roubidoux Spring. City of Waynesville website entry (Submitted on February 10, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
2. Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail. National Park Service website entry (Submitted on October 16, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Trail of Tears Association president Jack Baker talked about the forced relocation of Native Americans in the early 19th century. Mr. Baker, a member of the Cherokee Nation, also discussed his own family's involuntary move to Oklahoma.
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Credits. This page was last revised on June 19, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 16, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 569 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 16, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 3. submitted on June 19, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.
