When the Indian Removal happened in 1838, a series of stockades were built in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee to round them up and house them before their exile to the Oklahoma Territory. Over ten of these forts were built in North Georgia, including Fort Newnan (present Pickens County) and Fort Hetzel in Gilmer County.
The map below shows the location of some of the Removal Forts in the southeast. Note: Fort Morrow, Tennessee (above the second G in Georgia.
Fort Newnan was located in Gilmer County (present-day Blaine, Pickens County)
Fort Hetzel was located in Gilmer County,
Fort Wool was located at New Echota, the Cherokee Nation's Capitol.
Fort Campbell was located in Forsyth County near Hwy 369 and Old Federal Road.
Fort Buffington was located near Etowah (present-day Canton) in Cherokee County.
Fort Sixes (beneath Lake Allatoona) in Cherokee County
Fort Hoskins was located in Murray County (at Spring Place)
Fort Gilmer was located in Murray County.
Fort Floyd was located in Dahlonega Lumpkin County
Fort Cumming was located in LaFayette
Fort Means was located in Kingston
Encampment in Chastain
Encampment in Cedar Town
Encampment in Rome
Fort Marr, not on this map, was originally located in Polk, County, Tennessee. Fort Marr was built for an unknown reason around 1814. Today, the last remaining fortification from Fort Marr is presently located in Benton, Tennessee.
Although National Studies of the Trail of Tears routes and forts missed the importance of the fort, Tennessee Archaeological reports have definitively asserted:
On June 4, 1838, Captain John Morrow of the Tennessee Militia reported to General
Winfield Scott from Fort Morrow that he had 256 Cherokees at "this fort" ready for
emigration. On July 2, 1838, Colonel Lindsay issued an order stating "Capt. Morrow will proceed with his camp. to the Agency at which point he will be mustered out of service".
I admit my assumption is speculative, the original 1814 Fort Marr stockade was built in the Creek Indian War which coincided with the War of 1812 with the British. The Tennesseans played an integral part during the conflict with the Creeks.
The fort stayed at its original location until 1922 when it was disassembled from the Higgins farm and moved to Benton. The original construction of the fort had zero nails. They were added for the first time in the 1920s when the roof was replaced.
Three of the four blockhouses are gone. The oldest one remains. On the lower part of the map you see McNair Cemetery. Captain David McNair was married to the daughter of Chief Vann, Delilah. Click here for more info.
404 Spring Creek Rd, Delano, TN 37325 is the mailing address. It is located inside Hiwassee/Ocoee State Park.
Nearby, there is a special graveyard, Nancy Ward, born Nanyehi, led an astonishing life. She was born in 1738 in Chota (present-day) Loudon, Tennessee. Those of you who live in Ball Ground, Cherokee County Georgia, have seen the historical marker for the Battle of Taliwa.
There, according to author and ethnologist James Mooney, as a teenager, Nancy fought courageously near the confluence of Long Swamp Creek and the Etowah River, she even chewed the bullets of her husband Kingfisher's rifle in order to make them more ragged and deadly. After he died, she kept fighting and inspired the Cherokee to victory. As a result she was granted the title of Beloved Woman of the Cherokee. Later in life, she became a councilwoman of the Cherokee and helped to negotiate with the British and Americans. She helped negotiate the Treaty of Hopewell in 1785. She frequently spoke up on behalf of the Cherokee and for women in general.
Late in life, she opened an inn at Womankiller Ford on the Ocoee River. Her inn was not far from the gravesite of her and her son Fivekiller.
