Caravan on the Trail of Death

Potawatomi Trail of Death remembrance will visit areaA loathsome chapter of American history is jumping from behind the cloak of time.

The 170th anniversary of the Potawatomi Trail of Death will be observed at stops in the Hannibal region.

A caravan featuring ancestors, tribe members and others who want to keep alive the memory of the 1838 march will pass through or stop in Naples, Perry, Liberty and Quincy in West-Central Illinois and West Quincy, Palmyra and Paris in Northeast Missouri.Some background:The 1838 Trail of Death began on Sept. 4 in northern Indiana with the forced march of 860 Potawatomi by the United States government under terms of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which dictated that all tribes be relocated west of the Mississippi River.

When the 660-mile trek ended on Nov. 4 in eastern Kansas, typhoid fever and the stress of the journey had killed more than 150 tribe members. Most of the victims were children and older people.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Potawatomi Trail of Death.