Trail of Tears Roll

The Trail of Tears Roll is the name given by researchers to two different lists, both individually important, which provide an early glimpse into the Cherokees who went west in the early 1830’s. Lending to the confusion is the fact that both lists were created in 1835.

Trail of Tears Participants

Search and read both Trail of Tears roll’s, which provide an early glimpse into the Cherokee participants who were forced west in the early 1830’s.

• Trail of Tears Evaluation Roll
  • 1838 Cherokee Muster Roll 1
    The muster roll details the arrival of Lt. Deas and a large group of Cherokees to the West on May 1, 1838.
  • 1838 Cherokee Muster Roll 2
    The 1838 muster roll documents the journey of 1,072 Georgia Cherokees from Rosses Landing to Indian Territory, culminating with 635 survivors arriving on September 7, 1838. The official count recorded on July 23 noted 763 individuals, accounting for 144 deaths, 289 desertions, and 2 births along the Trail of Tears. The detailed enumeration lists 91 family groups, suggesting many of the missing were likely enslaved individuals whose descendants later became Cherokee freedmen.
• 1835 Henderson Roll

25th Congress, 3rd Session Senate Report

Don’t overlook the official United States Senate report in your research. While short of names, these letters sorted in order of earliest to latest, provide historical context to the movement of the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears.

• Office Indian Affairs, July 25, 1835
• New Echota, Georgia, May 13, 1837
• Commissioners’ Office, New Echota, May 29, 1837
• Athens, Tennessee, June 6, 1837
• Letter of Samuel H. Gordon
• Office Of Planters’ Bank, Tenn. Athens, June 6, 1837
• Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated July 3, 1837
• New Echota, Georgia, September 27, 1837

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