Petit Jean Mountain and the Trail of Tears

Petit Jean Mountain and the Trail of Tears. . Stout's Point provides a dramatic overlook of the Arkansas River, the water route of the Congressionally-designated Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. , What is the Trail of Tears? , After passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced tens of thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the southeast for new homes in Indian Territory (present- day Oklahoma). The government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee; 21,000 Muscogee (Creek); 9,000 Choctaw; 6,000 Chickasaw; and 4,000 Seminole from their homes. They traveled over established land and water routes, which led through Arkansas. Rather than risk disease and other hazards of summer travel, many groups began the journey in the fall and instead faced treacherous winter weather. Thousands died during the ordeal remembered today as the Trail of Tears. , Some of the removal groups chose to travel over land, others took the water route, which brought them up the Arkansas River below you. They undoubtedly looked up at the towering cliffs of Petit Jean Mountain where you stand. , At the end of the day while setting up camp, American Indians traveling the Trail of Tears water route would have been greeted by dramatic sunsets behind Petit Jean Mountain. Arriving at this mountain was particularly meaningful to the Cherokee, as it was a visible landmark indicating nearness to the western Cherokee settlements of the late 1700s.