Lots of History

We had a couple very busy days.
First the history:
We started at Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site. They went back to the very beginning when man crossed over the Bering Strait and worked their way down to what became the US. Then they talked about the Mississippian culture- the people who settled along the Mississippi- and spread from there. While only part of the site has been excavated it shows a great deal. (Lots of history I don't remember ever learning) All of this was before the Indians I knew.
Next we bounced ahead in time to the Cherokee. Many of them lived in the land that became Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. We went to 2 sites in Cherokee history. The New Echota site was too large to see in just a couple hours but here's some of what we learned. The Cherokee established a capital at New Echota and a system of government very similar to ours. Sequoyah devised a written 'alphabet' of their spoken language. It was at New Echota that a printing press was made that printed a newspaper in both Cherokee and English. The recreated village looks like any village of that time (and the homes were a lot nicer than the ones we saw in the Smoky Mountains).
We also went to the home of "Major Ridge". I'll quote the paper we were given- 'seeing the changing times, he began to live in two worlds and succeed in both.' He was a very successful and important man.
But the finding of gold in Georgia was the final 'straw' that resulted in the State of Georgia taking the land.
Bob and I said he was the person between a rock and a hard place- as chief, no matter what he did he would be wrong- in supporting the "Treaty of New Echota" he angered many of his tribe and without the treaty the Indians would have nothing.
It was a sad and difficult time.