After a pair of lovely morning health shakes courtesy of Michelle at Healthy Avenue Nutrition, I biked a few miles west to Roubidoux Springs, which Rev Butrick spelled as Robidoo in his journal.
The Canon detachment, mentioned above, was the first detachment to traverse the trail of tears and was comprised of those Cherokee people that volunteered to leave their lands and abide by the terms of the controversial Treaty of New Echota. Their journey was quite different than the journeys of the Taylor and Hildebrande detachments. Canon’s detachments were escorted by US soldiers, were able to carry all of their belongings, and did so under more amenable weather conditions.
There were huge old maple trees that lined the river. The whole grove seemed to welcome me as I said my morning prayers along the river banks. I wondered if these trees were old enough to have witnessed the Cherokee people that passed this way in the 1830s. My intuition told me that they were. But, I’m not an arborist, so who knows. If only trees could speak English. I listened to their offerings and tried to make sense of them. I felt that they were happy that I was there and that brought me joy. Of course, I couldn’t resist hugging one of them. I miss hugging the old maple, Imelda, near my house in Portland.
About 10 miles out of Waynesville, I encountered unkempt gravel roads as I traversed several farms along Snipe Road (really!). I am still amazed that the silver turkey had maintained full tires this far through the journey. What a blessing!
The removal riders took a different route than I did and headed south at Gascozark to the Gasconade Hills where they walked their bikes in silence along a gravel road segment of the Trail of Tears, I suspect along Highway K near Drynob. Somewhere near this location, an elder of the Taylor detachment got left behind, but the detachment could not wait for him. So, his brother sent a horse off after him. Neither the elder nor the brother were heard from again.
I should mention that the silver turkey is a cyclocross bike with 700c tires that are 37mm wide. I’ve got it setup to primarily handle road conditions, but she can handle gravel as well. The removal riders journeyed on road bikes meaning that gravel roads were not possible for them. I estimate that 10% to 15% of my journey was on gravel roads. As a result, they saw things that I didn’t and vice-versa. History suggests that the actual route taken by the 11 detachments that took the northern route, varied quite a bit. So, having already traversed 5 to 10 miles of heavy gravel by the time I reached Gascozark, I didn’t feel the need to head to the Gasconade Hills like the removal riders did.
Despite the difference in our route, we both had to pass over the Gasconade River. When I encountered it, I found a nice path and walked down to the banks of the river. I offered some prayers for those that never made it this far and for those that had. There was a boat ramp and a park on the opposing side. Noting how high up I had to go reach the bridge, I wondered if I could ford the river. It seemed too deep, so I decided against it.
Atone The Removal 