On a bike you see so much more than you do from inside a car. As I raced across Georgia and Tennessee on back roads and interstates I was often struck by how beautiful the countryside is, and ,I could not help but notice a disturbing trend in all of the towns I rode through. Worse than the chain store sameness is the proliferation of pawn shops, title loan brokers, and pay day loan offices I saw. I could not keep count of the number of these establishments I encountered in every town I rode through from Canton Georgia to Hopkinsville Kentucky. That there is such a large market for these places speaks volumes about the real state of our economy and how close we may very well be to the economic abyss.
Hop Town does have at least two things that most other towns do not. First, they quarry limestone or chalk here and many of the roads leading into town are covered with it. Second, they have a Trail Of Tears commemorative park. The area was used as a large encampment for the northern arc of the Trail of Tears. In addition to some recreated log buildings and other educational displays, the graves of two Cherokee chiefs are located in the park.
I arrived too late to visit the park tonight. I will tour the park tomorrow morning.
I am exhausted. I put over 500 miles on the bike today through some beautiful scenery and challenging roads.
I left the house at 5:30am and I got settled in the hotel here around 6:30pm central time.
This morning, I began by riding state route 20 west through Cherokee county, Georgia and then 75 north to Chattanooga, Tennessee. There, I stopped at Ross' Landing to view the removal detachment's jumping off place for the west. After that, I headed a little south of Chattanooga to a place called Rossville where I visited the home site of Principle Chief John Ross.
John Ross is thought of as the Cherokee's greatest chief. This is somewhat ironic since he was only 1/8th Cherokee. As his name suggests, he was mostly Scottish. Before he was a chief, Ross was a soldier who organized and lead Cherokee regiments in battles during the war of 1812. He was an ally, and subordinate, of Andrew Jackson. Ross tried to use his standing with Jackson and his knowledge of the law to prevent the Cherokee removal. When he failed to prevent the removal, he lead the Cherokee into exile.
Ross's log home is on a fenced in lot inside a small run down park behind the Rossville post office. If you blink as you go through Rossville, you will miss the signs that leads you to the park.
From Rossville, I rode out to route 127 and climbed up into the Cumberland Mountains to a town called Signal Mountain. Signal Mountain takes it name from the signal station the Union army setup there during the Civil War. I visited the signal station. It is now a state park. The view from the station is incredible. After surveying the landscape and seeing how steep many of the mountain sides are, I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to move thousands of people through the Cumberland range.
I followed 127 on a winding course through the mountains. At one point, against all better judgment, I pulled the bike into a graveled area to look at what appeared to be abandoned tunnels cut into the cliff face. There were 2 large rectangular openings cut into the side of the mountain. The openings were at least 12 feet high by 10 feet wide. They had to be more than 75 years old. My guess is they are mining or railroad artifacts. I would very much like to know for a fact what they are. I was too chicken to go in or even get very close to the openings so I cannot be sure how far into the mountain they go. I suspect they go very deep.
My next stop was at Shellford Baptist Church outside of McMinnville Tennessee. A church has been on or near the same place since the Shell Family donated the land in 1815. Cherokee following the northern route passed by the church property. According to legend, a Cherokee preacher held services on the site and at least one Cherokee girl is buried in the cemetery. Unfortunately, the cemetery contains at least 1000 markers. Many of them are from the first half of the 19th century. I could not find the grave of the Cherokee girl said to be buried there.
After Shellford, I rode to the Hermitage. The Hermitage is the name Andrew Jackson gave to his plantation. No Trail of Tears ride would be complete without a visit to the homesite of the architect of 19th century Indian removal policy. It is now a park just east of Nashville.
I had to take route 40 toward Nashville to get there. I am extremely glad today is Sunday. Route 40 was scary enough on the bike in Sunday traffic. You have not known terror until you've had to cross over 4 lanes of crowded traffic on a motorcycle at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour to exit from the left side of the highway. Why do they have exits on the left side of highways? Don't road planners know that territory is reserved for the most aggressive, turf conscious drivers.
The mansion at the Hermitage has been restored to near perfect condition. For a $15 fee, the people who run the park will provide you with guided and unguided tours of the mansion and the surrounding garden and arboretum. Jackson was an extremely effective general and president. He was also a large slaveholder, he probably held more slaves than any other American president. Like most most men of his time, he did not view subjectation of people by race as a moral issue. The same norms that supported african slavery also allowed for dehuanization of indigenous populations. Jackson saw no wrong iin his actions, and niether did the majority of his contemporaries.
By the fall of 1838, Jackson had left the white house and returned to the newly remodeled Hermitage. While he was there, thousands of Cherokee people would have passed within a day's ride of the mansion on their way to Oklahoma.
I’m too tired to write anymore. I hope tomorrow to figure out how to get video up . My current problem is the video camera I have records on mini discs, and my MAC does not read mini discs…
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