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AUTHOR: JOHN EHLE

HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR JOHN EHLE GREW UP ON FORMER CHEROKEE HUNTING GROUNDS. AS A SIXTH GENERATION NORTH CAROLINIAN, HE COMBINES HIS EXPERIENCE AS AN ACCOMPLISHED NOVELIST, WITH HIS EXTENSIVE, METICULOUS RESEARCH. CULMINATES IN THIS MOVING TRAGEDY, RICH WITH HISTORICAL DETAILS.THE CHEROKEE PEOPLE ARE A PROUD, ANCIENT CIVILIZATION. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS THEY BELIEVED THEMSELVES TO BE THE “PRINCIPLE PEOPLE.” BY THE 18TH CENTURY, SOME OF THEIR LEADERS BELIEVED IT TO BE NECESSARY TO ADAPT TO EUROPEAN WAYS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. THOSE CHIEFS SEALED THE FATE OF THEIR TRIBES IN 1875 WHEN THEY SIGNED A TREATY RELINQUISHING THEIR LAND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, WITH PROMISES OF WEALTH AND BETTER LAND. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT USED THE TREATY TO JUSTIFY THE EVICTION OF THE CHEROKEE NATION. IN AN EXODUS THAT THE CHEROKEE WILL FOREVER REMEMBER AS THE “TRAIL WHERE THEY CRIED.” THE HEROISM AND NOBILITY OF THE CHEROKEE SHINE THROUGH THIS INTRICATE STORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS, AMBITION, AND GREED.

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