05/25/2026
The historic painting below captures the direct visual aftermath of what began on this day: families displaced from their homes, forced to navigate harsh elements under armed guard, carrying only what they could fit on a wagon or a horse.
May 23, 1836: The Ratification of the Treaty of New Echota
Against the overwhelming will of the Cherokee people and their elected government led by Principal Chief John Ross, the U.S. Senate ratified the highly contested Treaty of New Echota by a margin of just one single vote.
The treaty had been signed in secret by an unauthorized minority faction of the tribe without the consent of the National Council. By ratifying it, the federal government officially established a strict two-year countdown for all Cherokees to voluntarily vacate their ancestral eastern homelands and relocate west to Indian Territory.
In the weeks surrounding this date, more than 15,000 Cherokee citizens signed a formal petition declaring the treaty fraudulent and begging the U.S. government to reject it, but their democratic voices were entirely ignored.
Source Documents: Official Journals of the U.S. Senate; National Park Service Historical Archives.
May 23, 1838: The Forced Military Roundup Begins
Exactly two years to the day after the treaty's ratification, the voluntary relocation deadline expired. Because the vast majority of the Cherokee people rightfully refused to recognize the illegal treaty, they remained on their land, hoping the United States would honor its prior valid treaties.
In response, President Martin Van Buren ordered General Winfield Scott and a force of over 7,000 U.S. Army soldiers and state militia to begin an immediate, armed roundup.
Beginning on the morning of May 23, soldiers entered Cherokee homes, farms, and businesses at bayonet point. Families were forced out of their dwellings with no notice, often unable to gather shoes, clothing, or basic provisions. This day marks the literal, official start of the Trail of Tears (Tslagi Tsulisko-v-i). Citizens were initially driven into heavily guarded, unsanitary stockades and internment camps across Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina before the grueling, thousand-mile marches westward commenced.
Source Documents: Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center; Historical Records of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Connection to Goingsnake
The very name of the Goingsnake District is directly tied to the leadership that resisted the actions of this day. Chief Going Snake (I-na-du-na-i), a respected statesman and Speaker of the Cherokee National Council, stood firmly alongside Chief Ross in opposing the removal policy.
When the forced roundup began, he was among those incarcerated, and he later helped maintain tribal structure and unity while leading a detachment during the forced march west. The resilience displayed on this day in 1838 is the exact reason the Goingsnake District was established and named in his honor once the people arrived in Indian Territory to rebuild their lives.
Source Documents: United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historian Archives; Cherokee Nation Constitution and Laws (1840).
