It was much more Indians than just the Cherokee, visiting French scholars Alexis T. and Beaumont saw this......and were appalled by it....

A Brief History of the Trail of Tears - Cherokee Nation
www.cherokee.org/.../TrailofTears/ABriefHistoryoftheTrailofT...
Cherokee
Migration from the original Cherokee Nation began in the early 1800's. Some Cherokees, wary of white encroachment, moved west on their own and settled in ...