My Commentary
This is a small park located at the end of Hwy 133 in Rural Livingston, Kentucky. The park contains the two markers, a boat ramp, parking, and a portable toilet. The markers are on the right as you enter the park.
Berry Ferry was a Livingston county community on the Ohio River at the mouth of Givens Creek about 15 miles north of Smithland. It was established in the late eighteenth century and James Lusk operated a ferry there, followed by his wife, Sarah, after his death. The town of Golconda, Illinois was initially named Sarahville. The ferry was later operated by John Berry and his family. In the winter of 1837-1838 members of the Cherokee nation being forced west in the Trail of Tears were forced to camp in the area and cross to Illinois using the ferry. The ferry operated into the mid-twentieth century. The Lusks Ferry post office opened in 1833, was renamed Berry or Berrys Ferry in 1834, and operated intermittently until 1921.
- Kentucky Atlas Website
Marker Text:
Berry's Ferry and the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Trail of Tears Association
They Passed This Way
Home to thousands of men, women, and children,
the Cherokee Nation once spread across Georgia,
North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. The 1830
Indian Removal Act required that the Cherokee
surrender their land and move west.
In 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee began their
trek west from their traditional eastern homeland
to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) over
the "Trail of Tears." They traveled by existing
roads and rivers. Many groups left in the fall,
hoping to avoid the disease and heat of summer
travel, and instead faced treacherous winter
weather. More than 1,000 died during the journey
westward, and more than 4,000 died as a result of
their forced migration.
Federal Indian Removal Policy
Federal Indian removal policy aroused
fierce and bitter debate. Supporters of the
policy claimed it was a benevolent action
to save the tribes east of the Mississippi
River from being overwhelmed and lost in
the onslaught of an expanding American
population. Opponents decried its
inhumanity and the tragic consequences
it had for the Indian peoples. One thing
was certain; removal freed millions of
acres of desired Indian lands for use by
white settlers.
Despite the hardships of the journey,
members of the five removed tribes
established new lives in the West.
Today
Cherokee who survived the
Trail of Tears created a new
sovereign nation in present-day
Oklahoma. Some Cherokee
remained in North Carolina
and, due to a special exemption,
formed the Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians.
All five removed tribes stand as
successful sovereign nations,
proudly preserving cultural
traditions, while adapting to the
challenges of the 21st century.
[Pictures & Captions:]
(picture of Cherokee on Trail of Tears)
...we have Suffered a great
deal...The roads are in very
bad Order as the ground
was frozen very deep...We
have been lying by about
two weeks...The [river] has
been full of large quantities
of floating Ice...we must
calculate on suffering a
good deal from hardships &
exposure before we yet reach
our homes in the far West.
Recollection of a survivor of the Trail of Tears
(picture of map of migration routes of various tribes)
In the 1830's, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee, 21,00 Muscogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from their ancestral homes in the southeastern United States.
(picture of map of various Cherokee Trail of Tears routes)
By helping to preserve historic sites and trail segments, and developing areas for public use, the story of the forced removal of the Cherokee people and other American Indian tribes is remembered and told by te National Park Service and its partners.
You can visit more sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
Learn more at www.nps.gov/trte