The Nation - News from Dec. 2, 1987

The House passed legislation to commemorate the forced removal of Cherokees from North Carolina to Oklahoma in the last century. The bill, approved by voice vote, would authorize the Interior Department to establish a national historic Trail of Tears to mark the land and water routes traveled by the native Americans in 1838 and 1839. An estimated 13,000 Cherokees left North Carolina and “during the unfortunate trek, an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died,” said Rep. Bill Emerson (R-Mo.). The legislation is similar to a Senate-passed bill.