A ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the lighting of the eternal flame at Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, June 29. The ceremony will be held at the entrance to the theatre, where the eternal flame is located.

In May, 1951, a delegation sponsored by the Cherokee Historical Association departed from Cherokee to re-trace the Trail of Tears route, which the Cherokee traveled to Indian Territory in Oklahoma in 1838. Under the leadership of the late John Parris, who was then public relations director for the association, the group included four members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians — McKinley Ross, vice-chief; Arsene Thompson, who was seen in the role of Elias Boudinot in “Unto These Hills” at that time; Leroy Wahnetah; and Joseph Washington. Washington was a descendant of Tsali, who gave his life so that others of the Cherokee who had hid out in the mountains could go free, and Wahnetah was a descendant of many of those who were on the Trail.

Their first stop was one mile south of Murphy, at the site of Fort Butler. The fort was commanded by Gen. Winfield Scott during the roundup of the Cherokee Indians for removal to Oklahoma in 1837-38. From there, they traveled to Rossville, Ga., to visit the home of John Ross; then to Athens, McMinnville, Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tenn. In Nashville, they visited the ancestral home and burial place of President Andrew Jackson, where McKinley Ross said “we came here to forgive and forget.” Jackson was the president who ordered the removal of the Cherokee.

From Nashville the group traveled to Clarksville; then to Hopkinsville, Ken. In Clarksville, the group visited George French, a Cherokee who was in the Campbell Army Hospital. While there they also visited with another Cherokee, Robert Youngdeer.

At Hopkinsville, there is a marker to Chief Whitepath and others of the Cherokee who died on the Trail. There is a marker that states that 13,500 Cherokee camped overnight on their way to Oklahoma territory

The route then went through Princeton and Marion, Ken., and into Golconda, Ill. The group crossed the Ohio River between Marion and Golconda on a ferry, just as the Cherokee did 113 years before. The next stop was Vienna, then Anna, then Cape Girardeau, then Jackson and Fredericktown. From Fredericktown, the route was Potosi, Rolla, Mo.; then Lebanon and Springifled into Aurora, Mo.; into Arkansas to the end of the trail in Tahlequah, Okla.

Ceremonies were held in all the towns through which the group passed; they received many city keys, passed out numerous peace pipes, and brought much attention to the North Carolina Cherokees and their historical outdoor drama “Unto These Hills.”

The delegation brought back with them a flame from a century-old Cherokee Indian council fire in Oklahoma to light the eternal flame at Mountainside Theatre, which burns as “Friendship Eternal Between the White Man and the Red Man” at Mountainside Theatre.

The flame was ignited at the 1951 opening performance of “Unto These Hills” by Arsene Thompson, who later performed on stage as Elias Boudinot.

The Trail of Tears story is told each summer in the outdoor drama “Unto These Hills.” Performances are scheduled for June 13-Aug. 25 at 8:30 p.m. nightly except Sundays. The public is invited to attend.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News