Bush Signs Trail Of Tears Study

Friday, December 1st 2006, 2:45 pm

By: News On 6

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) President Bush has signed into law the Trail of Tears Study Act to research routes used when American Indians were forced from their ancestral homeland into what is now Oklahoma.

Republican congressman Zach Wamp sponsored the bill and says accurately identifying all routes is necessary because the human side of the removal must be told.

Wamp says the trail expansion study will show the character and the courage of the Cherokee.

When the original trail was designated in 1987 two main arteries, the Benge and Bell routes, were missing as well as other water routes and emigration depots.

Wamp says the additional components will allow Americans to see where the original Cherokee villages lay and help public understanding of the history.