SEMORPC Tourism
passing through
Cape Girardeau County,
Missouri
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Eleven detachments of Cherokee made their way to Oklahoma over the Northern Route charted by B. B. Cannon. Traveling in wagons and on horseback, they crossed from Willard's Landing in Illinois to Moccasin Springs on horse ferry boats at Green's Ferry near what is now Trail of Tears State Park and at Smith's Ferry at Bainbridge, several miles south. They crossed the river during the dead of Winter in December, 1838, and January and February of 1839.
Rain, snow, freezing cold, hunger and disease took their toll on the Cherokee emigrants as they waited to cross into Missouri. Falling temperatures caused the surface of the river to freeze before all of the detachments could be ferried across. The ice prevented both boat and horses from moving. Many Cherokee died in camps on both sides of the river while waiting for the journey to resume.
Reverend Daniel S. Buttrick accompanied the detachment led by Elizah Hicks which had crossed at Smith's Ferry. From his camp in Bainbridge, he wrote,

"We are told the detachment will probably be able to proceed on the journey tomorrow. It will then have been three weeks since our arrival on the other (west) bank of the river....During this time five individuals have died, viz. one old Cherokee woman, one black man, and three Cherokee children, making in all since we crossed the Tennessee River twenty six deaths."

The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail Automobile Tour Route enters Missouri across the Mississippi River bridge in Cape Girardeau, and using modern highways, parallels the Northern Route through the Southeast Missouri Region. In Cape Girardeau, travelers on the Automobile Tour Route can visit the 1883 Glenn House (Friday - Sunday, 1.00 to 4:00 p.m., April-December), admire the hilltop setting of the old Common Pleas Court house or visit the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

For more information about the Cherokee in Missouri, visit the office of Pitter's Cherokee Trails Gift Shop on Broadway Street (Tuesday through Saturday). With over a thousand members, the Northern Cherokee Nation is recognized by both the State of Missouri and the State of Arkansas and has headquarters in Columbia, Missouri.  Over 12,000 people in Missouri and Arkansas have identified themselves as Cherokee.
Trail of Tears State Park, located approximately 10 miles north of Cape Girardeau on Missouri Highway 177, should not be missed by visitors traveling the Automobile Tour Route. The Green's Ferry landing at Moccasin Springs is near the southern end of the park and is listed in the National Historic Places. The park preserves the native woodlands much as they would have appeared to the Cherokee who camped there after crossing the Mississippi. It is here that Nancy Bushyhead Hildebrand (identified on a memorial to all of
Reverend Jesse Bushyhead
the Cherokee who died on the Trail as "Princess
Otahki") died and was buried. She was the sister of Rev. Jesse Bushyhead, who led one of the detachments. The park's Visitor and Interpretive Center offers museum displays relating to Cherokee history and the Trail of Tears, artifacts and books, and an excellent video program.
From Cape Girardeau, the Automobile Tour Route continues on Highway 72 to Jackson. Here, the Cherokee camped on Hubble Creek and then on Byrd Creek at the Widow Roberts' place. The Jackson Advertiser of December 26, 1838, reported,

"During the present week 1900 Cherokee Indians passed through town on their way; some of them have considerable wealth and make a very respectable appearance, but most of them are poor and exceedingly weak."
On February 16, 1839, the Advertiser again reported,

"The last detachment of emigrating Indians (Cherokee), consisting of about 1000, passed through this place yesterday on their way to their new home. The largest detachment in which there were 1800 passed the day before."

In historic Jackson, visitors will find a number of structures built before the Cherokee migration. McKendree Chapel (1819), located along Bainbridge Road, is the oldest Protestant church west of the Mississippi River. The detachment led by B. B. Cannon camped on the nearby Williams' farm on the way to Jackson. From the street, visitors can get a good view of the Old Rock House (1814) located on North Missouri Street, and the Welling Estate (1817) on Main Street--both homes much like those the Cherokee were forced to abandon in the east. The Oliver House in Jackson (1871) has been beautifully restored and is open to the public on the first Sunday of each month from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., from May to December.

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Home | Passing through Cape Girardeau County
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Credits: Reverend Jesse Bushyhead photo from a painting by Charles Bird King. Courtesy: Archives and Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society
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