Cleveland-Bradley Free Press · Charleston, TN
The Trail of Tears Started Here
In 1838, the U.S. Army ran the Cherokee removal from Charleston and held thousands of people in camps in the valley between Charleston and Cleveland. Hundreds died there before the march west began. Red Clay, in southern Bradley County, was the Cherokee Nation's last capital in the East. Cleveland's land office sold Cherokee land while families were still held a few miles away. This is the full story of what happened here, who survived, and what our town could do now to make repair and apologize with dignity.