Chieftains

Floyd County · dedicated 2000 · On Riverside Parkway, north of GA 20 in Rome.

At this house's core is the 1790s log home of Major Ridge (c.1771-1839), a leader in the Cherokee Nation. His 223-acre plantation supported numerous outbuildings, orchards and slaves while the family served as ferryboat operators and merchants. It was here the council negotiated the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, which promised the Cherokees land compensation for voluntarily moving to Oklahoma. Their forced removal became known as the "Trail of Tears." Ridge knew death was imminent for selling tribal lands but believed the treaty to be the only means to save his people. He, his son, and nephew were murdered in 1839.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Chieftains

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