The mountains of extreme southeastern Tennessee were some of the most remote and least coveted lands in the old Cherokee Nation in Tennessee. The folk who moved into this mountainous area sought isolation to protect their old ways from encroachment by the white world, and few whites intruded upon their stronghold until a gold rush swept southeastern Tennessee in 1831-32, first discovered in Coker Creek. This discovery of gold was not made “official” since the Cherokee still officially owned the land until they were ousted. The ousting, however, was quick and severe. President Andrew Jackson, acting in defiance of the Supreme Court marched into Tennessee, Georgia and Florida and declared lands for white settlers. The Indians were then rounded up and led to Oklahoma along the infamous Trail of Tears.

“Mr. Marshall [Supreme Court Justice] has made his ruling now let him enforce it!” With that, President Andrew Jackson marched into Tennessee and declared the land for white settlers. The Indians were set to Oklahoma on the infamous “Trail of Tears,” a name given to it by white settlers who wept while watching their displaced Cherokee neighbors leave and carry the deadon their backs. During the 1838 military removal, most of the Cherokees were taken into Fort Morrow and members of the Turtletown, Ducktown and Coker Creek communities fell in with Cherokee prisoners from North Carolina. In Coker Creek, the Unicoi Turnpike directed the line from North Carolina past Fort Armistead, where it is likely that the Cherokee prisoners camped overnight before their descent of the Chilhowee Mountains into Tellico Plains. The old fort is gone, but the land on which it stood can be found in the field in back of the Coker Creek Gallery on Hot Water Road.