Fort Cumming

Fort Cumming (1838-1838) - A Trail of Tears Cherokee removal fort first established in 1838 in Lafayette, Walker County, Georgia. Named Fort Cumming after Rev. David B. Cumming, Methodist minister and missionary to the Cherokees. Abandoned in 1838.

History of Fort Cumming

Established in 1838 by Captain Samuel Fariss and a company of Georgia volunteers who guarded captured Cherokee Indians here before their removal to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Some 469 captured Cherokee Indians were escorted from Fort Cumming to Ross's Landing about 9 Jun 1838 to begin the journey. Records indicate that by May 1838 the post included a stockade, stables and perhaps barracks for the troops.

The remnants of the Cherokee Nation were rounded up in 1838 by Federal forces and Georgia Militia and pressed into military stockades for eventual removal to reservations in the western Indian Territory. U.S. General Winfield Scott oversaw the operation but lacked control over the militia units. Some 7,000 U.S. Soldiers and Georgia Militia forced some 15,000 Cherokee Indians into stockades and held them for removal. The condition were terrible in the stockades and on the trail to the Indian Territory and many of the Cherokees died before reaching the new reservations. As many as 4,000 Cherokees may have died in the stockades and on the 800 mile journey west. The removal process and the conditions of removal came to be known as the "Trail of Tears".

Note: some sources give start dates as early as 1836 but the NPS study of the site indicates that references to "Fort Cumming" begin on 11 May 1838 while prior records refer to "Lafayette".

This post abandoned about July 1838.

Current Status

Marker only in Lafayette, Walker County, Georgia.

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USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 1877596

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Location: Lafayette, Walker County, Georgia. Map point is the marker location. Maps & Images Lat: 34.71520199 Long: -85.2881441 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: .....'

See Also:

• Trail of Tears Forts

Sources:

• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 219

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Cumming
• NPS - Cherokee Removal From Georgia
• Fort Cumming Marker

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