A new National Park Service exhibit marks the Georgia section of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

The Cedartown site, along with another in Cave Spring, is the first Historic Trail marker in Georgia, though more will likely come.

In May 1838, federal troops interned all local Cherokee men, women, and children at the Cedar Town Removal camp in west Georgia.

For over 200 native people in Georgia this marked the beginning of a forced relocation westward, in what would later be called the Trail of Tears.

Eventually, all native peoples in Georgia were forced west.

Thanks to Congressional legislation expanding the Historic Trail, the National Parks Service has begun to mark sites related to the relocation of Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Chickasaw tribes from Georgia.

It is believed nearly 4000 or 20% of all Cherokee perished in the harsh journey westward.

Tags: Cedartown, Cherokee, Georgia History, Trail of Tears, Cave Spring