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Trail of Tears and marker arborglyphs, Forsyth Co. GA
A Rundown
Photos of the trees
The Initial Predicament of the Trees
History of the Trail of Tears Trees
The May 29th Meeting with the Forsyth Planning Committee
After the Planning Committee Meeting
The Forsyth News and shoddy journalism
EPD Violations
Edward Reynolds response to the Forsyth News and addresses
Atlanta Journal Constitution Article on the trees
June 26th Planning Commission Meeting outcome
The Initial Predicament of the Trees
In mid May of 2001, a woman came forward with information that there existed in Forsyth County two large beech trees with what she had been told were carvings to do with the Trail of Tears. These trees were on property that had been received in a family during the Cherokee land grants, and was initially Cherokee land. This land had remained in this particular family up to the present day, and one of the current heirs was pursuing selling a part of his land to a developer who wished to put in a subdivision. One tree, 9.5 feet in diameter, was standing, with carvings that were scarcely distinguishable any more as they had been scarred over. The second tree had been blown down years ago and its carvings were still legible. This felled tree was on the land that was to be sold for development; the standing tree was not.
The individual who owns the land was known to not only be not interested in protecting the trees, but hostile to any discussion about them. As the tree which had been blown over was on land to be sold to a subdivision developer, it was hoped that the developer would be amenable to having the tree examined and, if authentic, that he would be willing to hand over the tree for preservation. The developer was Troy Brumbalow, represented by Appalachian Surveying Engineering, and Planning, Inc. The name of the development would be Highwoods Development. The current owner of the land was James Heard.
What lent credence to the story of these trees is that the carvings had been known about for nearly 60 years by one individual, who had been aware of them all his life. His interest was such that in the 60s he made photographs of the carvings when they were in a much better condition than they are currently. He had also spoken about them with Forest C. Wade, who in 1969 published a book on such trees called "Cry of the Eagle, History and Legends of the Cherokee Indians and Their Buried Treasures".
History of the Trail of Tears Trees
When the Cherokee were removed to the West in 1838, a number believed that they would be allowed to return. They buried their possessions and placed markers on trees which would help the possessions to be found and recovered, while on other trees was carved in glyphs the story of the removal to the West.
Forest Wade, in his book, documented these symbols carved in Beech trees and stones in East Cherokee County and North Forsyth County, Forsyth County having been created from Cherokee County. Wade, who died in 1974, was a Cherokee descendant who had supposedly been taught to read these carvings by a friend who was full-blood Cherokee.
Wade wrote that before the removal, the Cherokee closed their mines, buried their treasures and carved signs on rocks and trees "so skillfully that most of them can only be seen and deciphered by a member of the tribe or someone highly trained in this art. This knowledge, forbidden to the white race, was so secret that death was the penalty to any Cherokee who revealed it to anyone other than their own race or a blood brother."
As late as the 1940s, descendants were coming from the West, with maps, to search for the trees which had the markers on them.
Wade wrote, "Hightower and Itawa of Forsyth County were two distinct and separate places about 1 mile apart....The Hightower Indians consisted of approximately 10 Cherokee clans, the largest of which was the Long Swamp Clan. Pictographic symbols at the Etowah River bank near Conn's Creek show 86 families were members of the Long Swamp Clan."
Matt is the community in which the two trees under scrutiny are located near creeks that are branches of Settendown Creek. Wade wrote, "Very little is known about Chief Settendown. He had a home on the south side of Settendown Creek in the present Matt community about one mile from Matt on the Matt and Cummin Highway. The chief was named after the creek on which he lived."
A large beech tree carved with many Indian cryptic charaters was near the James Kell home site in Forsyth County. These were carved by James Kell between 1835 and 1838, just prior to the removal. Wade wrote the cryptic message conveyed, "eight people." At the foot of the beech tree was a small stone about 3"x2"x1" buried about 18" deep. On the stone was carved an image of an otter, with cryptic characters carved on it.
Wade wrote that with the impending removal, each tribe rapidly become active in "creating a great network of sign trails over some 250,000 acres of forest land and consisting of some 300 Indian families using their mystic symbols that only the Indian could read. They created sign trails by carving their symbols on trees that were normally long lived, and on rocks by using hammers and steel carving tools."
According to Wade, most archaeologists and historians on the Cherokee Indians don't believe that the petroglyphs have any connection with buried treasure. Few believe that the Cherokees had any gold, though this was disputed by numerous gold caches found by deciphering the symbols on near-by rocks and trees, and articles written in the Indian newspaper, "Cherokee Phoneix."
Chief Ozley Bird Saunook had once remarked, referring to deciphering the symbols, "This is the one thing that the white man never stole from the Indian."
A partial list of the Cherokee Indian Census shows that in the Settendown Creek area lived Humming Bird, Alfred Scudder, Rising Fawn, Mose Daniel, Ruben Daniel and George Welch. In the Hightower area lived James Kell, ALfred Hudson, Josiah Buffington and Jim Wicket.
Continue to the The May 29th Meeting with the Forsyth Planning Committee
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