Fort Payne Cabin: Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

The Fort Payne Cabin is located in northeastern Alabama, near the small town of Fort Payne. The Fort Payne Cabin Historic Site is easy to miss if you are not careful. Today the site is an official stop along the Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail.

When you pull into the site’s parking lot, there appears to be little there. There are a few historical signs and a stone chimney that was a part of the original cabin. It is what that chimney and the site represent that is important.

In 1837 federal troops began arriving in the Wills Valley. Their objective was to establish a fort to aid in the removal of the local Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi. The historic site cabin belonged to a Cherokee man named Spirit the Preacher, John Huss. Archaeologists estimate the place was built circa 1825. Cherokee in the area had their homes and property seized as a part of Fort Payne. Huss’s cabin was taken, and he and his family voluntarily moved west later that year. Cherokee who refused to move westward willingly were gathered up and held in the stockade pending their removal. By the late summer of 1838, more than 1100 Cherokee, were kept at Fort Payne in open encampments as soldiers patrolled the perimeter. The forced exile would become known as the Trail of Tears.

Visiting Fort Payne Cabin Historic Site

A large group of Native Americans led by Cherokee leader John Benge departed for Indian Territory in October 1838. Benge was the son of the famed Cherokee warrior Bob Benge who was killed in battle in 1794. The group led by Benge had more than 1100 people but just 57 wagons. They were not given an escort and expected to cover nearly 800 miles without adequate supplies. On the first day of their journey, John Benge reported to Cherokee Chief John Ross, “We find on examination of the condition of the attachment… collected at the first place (Fort Payne)… that many of them at least two-thirds are in destitute condition and in want of shoes, clothing, and blankets… the detachment consists of 1190 person… we have only 83 tents.”

The Trail of Tears route from Fort Payne is the only one originating in Alabama. You can travel the first few dozen miles from Fort Payne to the Tennessee River.

While visiting the Fort Payne Cabin Historic Site, visit the Willstown Mission Cemetery. It is also an official site along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Little River National Preserve and the beautiful DeSoto State Park are also nearby.