Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

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The trail is a crime scene, but we must remember, understand, judge and commit ourselves to being better. In the early 1800s, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee (Creek) and Seminole tribes in the southeast were trying to balance their own culture while adapting to new ways of life. Sequoyah had created a Cherokee alphabet by 1821, and many had assimilated into the new communities, often through intermarriage, building homes, farms and businesses alongside immigrant families.

But many voters (at the time white males) had deep racist fear and hatred of Native Americans (and also wanted their land), so they voted for politicians who would remove the tribes. Andrew Jackson had a successful political career, and purchased a plantation and over a hundred slaves to work it. Appointed a colonel in the Tennessee militia, he gained national fame during the War of 1812–an expansionist war of choice against Native Americans and their British backers: “Remember the Raisin”. Jackson led troops including regiments from some of the five ‘civilized tribes’ above in the slaughter at Horseshoe Bend in 1814. One of his soldiers was Sequoyah, who saw first hand how the rebellious ‘Red Sticks’ were cut down by superior weapons. Jackson used the victory to betray his Native American allies by forcing the Muskogee who had fought on both sides to cede almost half of Alabama and much of southern Georgia in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

Within 10 years of Horseshoe Bend, the Chickasaw had ceded 1/2 their territory, along the Mississippi River in western Kentucky and Tennessee (between Shiloh and Fort Donelson), retaining much of northern Mississippi (around Brices Cross Roads and Tupelo). The Choctaw lost their land near Vicksburg, and lived south of the Chickasaw. The Muskogee were restricted to a fraction of their land around Horseshoe Bend in eastern Alabama (around the Freedom Riders Monument). The Seminole had lost around 1/2 of Florida and lived in the swampy center. And the Cherokee still held their land in the mountainous corner of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, from Little River Canyon—which became a waypoint on the trail—and Russell Cave—which had been continuously inhabited for 10,000 years—, to Kennesaw Mountain and Chattahoochee River up to Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and up to the Smoky Mountains. (Yes, much of the Civil War was fought over land stolen from natives 50 years earlier).

Jackson is remembered for winning the Battle of New Orleans, but we should also remember the aftermath of the War of 1812, which ended when John Quincy Adams negotiated the Treaty of Ghent. Spanish Florida had been allied with the British, who had forts on the Panhandle. When they withdrew, they gave over one fort to a group of Seminole and African Americans. This became known as the ‘Negro Fort’ which caused great concern among those who benefited from slavery in the southeast. General Jackson sent in forces, and the fort was leveled when a cannonball hit the powder magazine. The Seminole Wars continued for decades, and the history of natives, African Americans and negotiations over Florida is fascinating.

Adams, who supported financial compensation for the five tribes, won a contingent election for President in 1824, but then Jackson defeated Adams overwhelmingly in 1828 and was reelected in 1832. As President, Jackson refused to follow a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Cherokee, and he supported segregation of natives and both state and federal jurisdiction over native land. Jackson supported and signed the ‘Indian Removal Act’ of 1830, intending to remove the five tribes from their remaining land. Tens of thousands of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee and Seminole were removed from the southeast and relocated to Oklahoma with thousands dying on the forced migration trail: rounded up and held in forts, with few possessions, homes looted, families separated, marched under guard, some in chains, suffering cold and exposure, denied medical help, including women, children and the elderly. Stops along the way included Arkansas Post, Little Rock, Pea Ridge and Fort Smith in Arkansas and Wilson’s Creek in Missouri.

The historic trail focuses on the Cherokee, but the removal act was for all tribes east of the Mississippi. The Chickasaw (see photo above) were able to sell some of their land and moved first. The Choctaw were cheated by treaty but moved too. Many Seminole continued to fight, with some moving to Oklahoma and others to reservations deeper in central Florida. The Muskogee ceded their public land to Alabama, and Jackson refused to defend their private property from being stolen. The rest moved after the Creek War of 1836. The Cherokee also lost their land that year in a treaty their leaders didn’t sign. Jackson used bribery, fraud, intimidation and war to effect the removal. Over 70,000 Native Americans living east of the Mississippi, including the north, were removed under his policies for 8 years and enforced by his Vice President and successor Van Buren.

Some of the Cherokee hid in the mountains, and their descendants still live in towns like Cherokee, on the southern border of Smoky, where you can see signs in Sequoyah’s written language. Eastern Oklahoma territory became tribal reservations for the Cherokee in the north, Chickasaw in the south, Choctaw in the southeast and both Muskogee and Seminole in the middle. Today, the tribes there thrive, have found ways to come to terms with the trail’s brutal history and have chosen to move forward. This is an inspiring example to face the facts, recognize the evil acts and resolve to be better people.

Olympic National Park

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Even though the Hoh Rain Forest is on the far side of the park from Seattle, it’s popular in July, so I watched an otter playing in the water for half an hour while waiting my turn to drive through the gate to look for parking. (A parking map at the gate would save everyone time). The Hall of Mosses Trail above is easily hiked from the visitor center, and it’s impressive and definitely worth the trip. Several of the trees appear to be 1000 years old, and the streams are clear from spring water, where I saw tiny salmon among the bright green watercress.

There are some signs that the increased heat from carbon pollution is damaging some of the mosses, and while the overall annual precipitation has remained the same, it’s more concentrated in heavy downpours and less in the misty fog-drip that these sensitive plants require. The glaciers are also disappearing rapidly and will disappear completely in a few decades or less, severely impacting all the downstream ecosystems. Still, it’s my favorite park for moss.

Of course, Olympic also has mountains, including Hurricane Ridge and Mount Olympus, which feeds the Hoh and Queets Rivers. There’s a Hot Springs resort at Sol Duc and boating at Lake Crescent. The Olympic Peninsula also has Native American Reservations which help manage the coastal wilderness, wildlife refuge and marine sanctuary. For me, their crown jewel is their large temperate rainforest, but the other areas are also stunning. Some artists are painting the glaciers before they melt, but wouldn’t it be better if we all did our part to reduce our carbon footprints?

Here are my visits to all parks in Washington.

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail

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Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home has maps and mementos from Lewis & Clark’s expedition all over his front hall, showing how interested he was in the Native Americans, geography, flora & fauna, and other discoveries. He also had strategic interests in mapping both the huge Louisiana territory he purchased from France and the further lands to the Pacific. Having read Captain Cook’s voyages, he was interested in discovering any practical, cross-country trading routes.

And there was plenty of competition. De Anza had explored up the coast to San Francisco in 1776, and the Spanish were busy establishing missions in California. The Russians staked their claim in Alaska before 1800 and were beginning to explore down the coast. The Scottish explorer Mackenzie had already followed Native American travel routes to the Arctic along the river later named for him and crossed the continent in 1793, arriving within months of the naval expedition of Vancouver. The British made no secret of their intention to expand their fur trading to the Columbia River.

So Jefferson scraped together $2,324 from an uncooperative Congress and gave the money to Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, younger brother of the famous war hero. Jefferson personally tutored Lewis in geography, hiring experts to assist in medicine, navigation, botany and taxidermy, giving Lewis full access to his legendary library, likely the largest private one in the US. Jefferson was fascinated by the reports of the expedition, following it closely, but he spoke little about the full plan publicly—except to justify the expense to Congress—to keep the reports from foreign rivals.

The first boat was completed in Pittsburgh, and Lewis launched into the Ohio River there at the end of August, 1803, with some crew, arms from Harpers Ferry, 200 lbs of dried soup, tobacco, wine, trade goods, med kit, and his Newfoundland dog, Seaman. He met up with Clark’s team in Louisville, KY, including Clark’s slave York, who became the first African American explorer known to cross overland to the Pacific. They traveled down the Ohio to the Mississippi and then up the Missouri, past Ste. Geneviève and St Louis, where they spent the winter. Then they paddled up river past the confluence of the Niobrara to Knife River (see photo), ND, where young Sacagawea joined the expedition with her French husband and their baby, after the expedition wintered nearby.

In the spring, they continued up river past what would become the Fort Union Trading Post, past the Milk River confluence, and each time they came to a fork, they would need to decide which was the Missouri River, often exploring both forks. Eventually, they reached the headwaters and traveled overland past what would later be the Big Hole Battlefield, before finding their way down the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia Rivers, with help from the Nez Perce. Mapping that Native American trade route over the Rockies was one of the expedition’s key accomplishments. Finally, they reached the Pacific and wintered at Fort Clatsop, beating a Russian explorer who arrived that spring.

On their way back, Lewis took a more northerly route, close to Glacier, and Clark southerly, along the Yellowstone River, before meeting again on the Missouri. The Spanish sent troops to arrest them, but couldn’t catch up, as traveling downriver back the way they came was much quicker. Jefferson was very pleased with the expedition’s success, grew corn samples at Monticello and reported Lewis & Clark’s scientific discoveries to Congress.

Jefferson appointed Lewis Governor of Louisiana Territory, but many hated Lewis for protecting Native American rights and spread conspiracies against him. Lewis’ territorial secretary and rival smeared him in letters to Washington, causing the government to refuse to reimburse Lewis for expedition expenses, which bankrupted Lewis, only two years after the expedition returned. On a trip to Washington to clear his name and his debts, he was likely murdered on the Natchez Trace, suspiciously described as a ‘suicide’ despite multiple injuries. Seaman survived the expedition, but the faithful dog refused food and died immediately after Lewis’ mysterious death.

Sacagawea, their teen interpreter and diplomat, died at 24, but Clark helped support her children. Clark was less generous with York, who had expected to gain his freedom but was refused. Clark lived longer than Lewis and was Governor of Missouri territory from 1813 to 1820. A credible report later placed York in Wyoming, living among natives as a Chief.

Mount Rainier National Park

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Panorama Point above is about 1,500’ above the Paradise parking lot, halfway along the 5 mile ‘strenuous’ Skyline loop trail, just under halfway up the mountain. In July, there were waterfalls, snow on sections of the trail, wildflowers and marmots. Mts St Helens, Adams & Hood all visible in the distance. The northwest and southeast corners of the park both have old growth forests, along the Carbon River Rainforest—which is open for bicycling on the first few miles—and the Ohanapecosh River Grove of the Patriarchs Trails respectively. I understand why Muir extolled Rainier as the best of the volcanic peaks in this area.

“Of all the fire mountains which like beacons,
once blazed along the Pacific Coast,
Mount Rainier is the noblest.

John Muir

For me, it’s another return trip after several decades since my brother and sister and I took a hike and a photo up here somewhere. I was pleased to see the forest looking healthy, the clear streams near the top, the glacial gray rivers on the way down and the blue glacial lakes below, as I remember. Of course, when the rapidly receding glaciers disappear, the whole ecology will be severely disrupted. But for now, I’m happy to visit a place like this when the rest of the country is under a carbon fueled heat dome.

Here are my visits to all parks in Washington.

Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail

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After the patriots defeated the British at Saratoga—thanks to Kosciuszko—, the French openly took our side against their rivals, sending a fleet with an army under the command of Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau. They landed in Newport, RI, but the British blocked their fleet from leaving. The troops camped in Providence, and then marched west, stopping in Cranston, RI, Lebanon & Hartford, CT, before eventually joining Washington’s army near White Plains, NY in the Hudson Valley. They camped together for the winter in Morristown, NJ. Then they marched south, past Washington’s early victories in Princeton and Trenton, NJ, before arriving to parade before Congress in Philadelphia.

From there, their plans became secret. Most expected the joint force to attack New York. But General Baron von Steuben had recommended using both land and sea forces to trap the British army in Virginia, and both Washington and Rochambeau agreed. They marched together through Wilmington, DE, to Maryland, where they split up. The French sent their fleet south from Newport, and the British sent their fleet from New York. But Rochambeau had picked Virginia to take advantage of a second French fleet arriving from the West Indies. Boats were also launched from the north end of the Chesapeake Bay to ferry French troops safely and quietly to Virginia. Washington’s troops quickly marched past his home in Virginia and through Fredericksburg—later a Civil War site—before joining his friend General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who knew nothing of the plan.

Lafayette had come to America at age 19 with his own funds to join Washington long before France did, and he fought bravely, winning crucial battles and getting wounded. He had returned to France to encourage them to attack England, was briefly arrested for disobeying the King, and returned to continue fighting. When the French finally sent troops, Lafayette recommended various aggressive plans to Rochambeau to retake New York, but Rochambeau was cautious and dismissive. Washington counseled patience and sent Lafayette south to Virginia to capture the traitor Benedict Arnold, whose victory on the American side at Saratoga ironically had convinced the French to ally with the Americans. Lafayette was frustrated at being sent so far from all the action, not knowing Washington had plans for the young general.

The British had invaded Virginia (second time), coming up from near Moore’s Creek in North Carolina, had taken Petersburg (also Civil War) that spring and under Benedict Arnold that summer had taken and burned Richmond (see Civil War). Cornwallis took command and decided to establish his base in Yorktown (again Civil War) on the coast. Arnold advised Cornwallis to move inland for safety, Cornwallis ignored the advice and sent Arnold to Connecticut, where he burned New London.

The French Chesapeake fleet landed their 9,000 troops at the York River to join Washington’s 9,000 troops on the peninsula and trap Cornwallis. The combined French fleets defeated and blocked the British fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Lafayette led the siege at Yorktown—with Alexander Hamilton leading a critical assault (see photo). Cornwallis, surrounded and cut off from relief or escape by sea, surrendered. We would not have won this critical battle of our Independence War without our French allies, especially their fleets, their siege tactics and the element of surprise. After the war ended 2 years later, the French sailed back from Boston. A worthy trail indeed.

Incidentally, Benedict Arnold fled to England after hearing about the surrender at Yorktown. Arnold, after failing to convince the British to keep fighting, became a pirate in the Caribbean, was captured by the French, bribed the guards to escape and was rewarded by the British with 15,000 acres near Ontario, Canada, where he died at 60.

For the record, the rock-paper-scissors game ‘Rochambeau’ is mis-transliterated from the Japanese ‘Jan-Ken-Pon’ game adapted from the 2200 year old Chinese game ‘Shoushiling’.

North Cascades National Park

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This photo looks down from the High Bridge at the end of the road 11 miles from Stehekin (rent an e-bike) on Lake Chelan. Here the bridge connects to the Pacific Crest Trail which cuts northeast across the southern wilderness on the last leg to Canada. The northern wilderness section of the multi-park complex is across the Skagit Wild & Scenic River and west of Ross Lake up to the Canadian border.

Both the north and south roadless wilderness areas have many high peaks with receding glaciers, so the hiking isn’t easy. And the wildlife includes black bears, cougars, gray wolves and grizzly bears. Careless campers closed one campsite by leaving food for bears to find, and another was closed due to grizzlies fighting over a nearby carcass. Being long of tooth and short of courage, I just hiked the short Agnes Gorge Trail on the edge of the wilderness to catch some more glimpses of rushing Stehekin River.

Wilderness, of course, has now ended. Now that our carbon pollution is changing the climate globally, there is nowhere on earth unaffected by humans. With that change comes responsibility. Since we no longer allow nature to keep itself in equilibrium, we must act to restore balance. We broke it, so now we own it. The park has increasingly fierce wildfires, which we exacerbated. So the extra damage is our fault, and we must fix it.

Here are my visits to all parks in Washington.

Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

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John Smith was an explorer, adventurer and leader whose stories, maps and detailed descriptions of life in the ‘New World’ helped convince many early immigrants to cross the Atlantic to the colonies. As a young soldier John Smith was held captive by the Turks, as a leader of the first British colony he was captured by the Powhatan, and as an explorer in New England he was held hostage by French pirates. Respectively, he escaped, was saved by Pocahontas (more than once), and negotiated his own release. He learned the local native language, forced upper class colonists to labor for food, and didn’t return to England until after some gunpowder exploded in his canoe.

The affiliated “trail” covers the rivers that flow into the Chesapeake Bay, but to be clear, Captain Smith only explored the rivers as far as he could navigate in his exploratory small ship. His maps show the bays, not the lengths of non-navigable rivers shown as part of the trail. The trail extends far up various rivers, but neither Smith nor crew went to most of those places. I was confused on this point until the Susquehanna visitor center expert answered my questions.

The trail extends from Hampton Roads near Fort Monroe where the bay opens to the Atlantic, up the James River past Jamestowne, past places that would later be Grant’s HQ in Petersburg, the Confederate Capital of Richmond, and across the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway where the James becomes the Jackson River. The trail goes past Yorktown and up the two rivers that form West Point. And the trail goes up the Rappahannock River past Fredericksburg.

The trail goes up the Potomac, past where George Washington would be born, past Piscataway, Fort Washington and Kenilworth parks, and it continues up past the Jefferson, Lincoln, LBJ and MLK memorials, past Roosevelt Island, next to the GW Parkway, past Clara Barton’s house up to the Great Falls at the C&O Canal. The trail runs up the Patuxent River and up to Baltimore. The trail goes up the Susquehanna River (both branches) past Steamtown and into Central New York State north of the Upper Delaware River. And the trail also covers the Del-Mar-Va side of the bay, where Harriet Tubman was born. Again, Smith went as far as he could, but not past rocky shallow shoals or past any falls.

Smith also later explored and named much of New England, but this Chesapeake trail alone is certainly worthy of exploration. Someday, I’d like to return and see it by boat! And speaking of hopping around the country, Monday posts are going to cover National Parks on the West Coast, while Thursday posts will range more widely, covering more trails across the country. Enjoy!

Voyageurs National Park

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I have dreamed of Voyageurs since childhood. Imagine, a park dedicated to canoeists, fur trappers, traders and explorers, with remote boat-in campsites along the Canadian border in Minnesota! The Kabetogama Peninsula is almost an island with only a short portage around some rapids connecting it to the mainland. To the north lies the large Rainy Lake. Kabetogama, Namakan, Sand Point & Crane Lakes lie to the south, with three visitor centers open in summer.

Time limited, I focused on Ash River and took a tour boat out to Kettle Falls, where the southern lakes flow north on their way to the Arctic Ocean. There’s an old hotel there with a wide porch & lawn for enjoying sandwiches & summer sun. There’s another busier portage here, along with a dam and one of the few places in the states where you look south to see Canada. The highlight of the tour for me was going through the islands and stopping briefly at an old resort (see photo).

The park is on the old trading route from Montreal to Great Slave Lake all along the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. Glaciers pushed most layers of soil and rocks south, revealing some of the oldest bedrock in the US at 2.8 billion years ago. The Ojibwe are the traditional gatekeepers of the lands northwest of the Great Lakes. After the Voyageurs, or French fur traders, came miners, lumberjacks, and eventually a few hearty resort owners tried living here. Huge blocks of ice were cut and dragged out of the lake and stored through summer. Logging was massive and filled the coves with timber to be loaded on rail.

Now the forests have begun regrowing, and some wildlife, like elk, have mostly moved north due to climate change. I saw maybe a dozen bald eagles total, including juveniles flying high. The few remaining moose are rarely seen, preferring the swampiest areas far from trails.

I hiked a scenic trail out to Kabetogama Lake Overlook from the Ash River Visitor Center, and there are a couple of other boat tours, one which goes to a rocky garden. I stayed in Chisholm to be near a CCS charger (Combo Adapter needed) and a delicious ‘supper club’ called Valentini’s (order the Walleye). The biggest improvement opportunity would be to have more electric vehicles. There are a lot of noisy gas-powered fishing boats, some being towed by large houseboats. Sound carries far across the lakes, so they definitely detract from the natural setting (and pollute with carbon). Houseboats, slow-moving, sitting in the sun for long periods with large flat roofs, would convert well to solar-electric.

Here are my visits to all parks in Minnesota.

All Rocky Mountain Parks, Zero Carbon

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I recently completed visits to all national park units in the Rocky Mountain region by electric vehicle, including 3 in North Dakota, 5 in South Dakota, 5 in Montana, 6 in Wyoming, 10 in Colorado and 12 in Utah. I count multi-state parks where I spend my time, and I pick a favorite from each state at the end.

North Dakota’s parks are each glorious. At Knife River early Native American life is revealed in middens, plants, a round earthlodge, and living exhibits. At Fort Union the early interactions between Native Americans and fur traders also come to life. And Teddy Roosevelt’s 3 park areas protect both wildlife and the formative experience of our greatest conservationist president. And the state has the only affiliate in the region, International Peace Garden.

South Dakota’s parks cluster in the southwest corner, but they are varied. Wind and Jewel Caves give entry to the subterranean world, Badlands to the wall across the wide foreboding landscape, Mt Rushmore to the Black Hill cliffs, and Minuteman to the Cold War apocalyptic thinking.

Montana has two powerful parks describing our tragic history of brutal war against Native Americans: Big Hole and Little Bighorn. Grant-Kohrs preserves a piece of the old cowboy west, and Bighorn Canyon has striking views and wild horses. Glacier is stunning, rugged and a great place for horse riding, backcountry camping, kayaking and hiking.

Wyoming has parks in each corner, but the best are in the northwest. Fossil Butte does an admirable job of illustrating the full scale of evolution on earth, Devils Tower evokes some otherworldly monolith, and Fort Laramie recalls the days of wagon trains and unjust war on Native Americans. But Grand Teton, the Rockefeller Parkway and Yellowstone, in particular, are spectacular.

Half of Colorado’s parks preserve some of its impressive scenery, and half preserve the past. Black Canyon, Great Sand Dunes and Rocky Mountain National Parks are self-explanatory and awesome. Curecanti and Colorado also have dramatic canyon views. Bent’s Old Fort is a trading post out of a western movie, and Florissant protects fossilized trees, plants and animals from eons ago. Mesa Verde National Park (one of four in the state) and Yucca House preserve early native dwellings and artifacts, and Sand Creek preserves a shameful massacre of Native Americans by US troops and volunteers.

Utah has more than their fair share of scenic parks: Cedar Breaks vistas and Timpanogos Cave up in the mountains, Rainbow and Natural Bridges, Dinosaur fossils, Hovenweep native ruins and the Golden Spike. Oh, and they also have the big five: Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion National Parks. (Full disclosure: I drove to a stamp office for my official Rainbow Bridge EV visit and then took a carbon-burning tour boat to enjoy the park).

My favorite parks in each state are wildlife refuge Teddy Roosevelt, starkly scenic Badlands, dramatic drive & trails Glacier, geyser popping Yellowstone, native dwelling etched Mesa Verde (see Cliff Palace photo above) and stunning hikes Zion. While other regions may have more total park units, Rocky Mountain has many of the most spectacular parks in the system.

Glacier National Park

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The horizontal line across the Garden Wall on the other side of the valley is the Going-to-the Sun Road, which I finally drove—3rd time’s the charm. This year the dramatically scenic road opened on 13 June with little ice & snow visible in July. Just over the wall in Many Glacier, old photos show the many large glaciers are now very small, rapidly melting glaciers. My son and I rode horseback up in 2018, and the area should be renamed Many Lakes. Combined with its neighbor across the border, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is still a UNESCO World Heritage Site, despite the obvious melting problem.

Melting ice and glaciers are one of the tipping points that will flip our Climate Crisis into a catastrophe. Consider the Arctic ice cap. Every year recently, the multi-year ice has been shrinking at an accelerating rate. Eventually, the ice will disappear in summer. Then the same energy that currently raises ocean surface temperatures by 1° will raise it by a multiple of that amount. There are two reasons for that. First, the white ice will no longer reflect the sun. Second, the existing ice will no longer be there to act as a temperature break. When you boil water with ice, it takes something like three times the energy as water without ice, because most of the energy goes into melting the ice first. So, not only is it bad that glacial ice is melting due to flooding and dry rivers in the fall, but once the ice is gone, the surface temperature rise will accelerate much more rapidly. Please, reduce your carbon footprint.

Here are my visits to all parks in Montana.