Ashcroft announces program on The Trail of Tears in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – On Tuesday, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced a Thursday Evening Speaker Series program on The Trail of Tears in Missouri in recognition of American Indian Heritage Month.

The program will be offered in the Interpretive Center of the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center, the location of the Secretary of State’s State Archives, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, at 7 pm.

Professor Joseph Erb, member of the Cherokee Nation, will discuss how United States government authorities forcibly relocated Native American peoples from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to the west following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This included the more than 16,000 Cherokee who, between 1836 and 1839, were compelled to leave their homes and follow the Trail of Tears to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Harsh trail conditions, weather and disease tragically resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 along the way.

Join us as Erb retraces the steps his ancestors were forced to march nearly 200 years ago and shares stories of their trek across Missouri.

The State Archives is the official repository for state documents of permanent historic value and is located at 600 West Main Street in Jefferson City. All programs at the Archives are free of charge and open to the public, with seating available on a first-come, first served basis.

For more information on this and other programming at the Archives, contact Tracy Wegman, (573) 526-5296 or tracy.wegman@sos.mo.gov

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