The 2013 Remember the Removal Bike Ride is the fifth annual bicycle ride commemorating the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its homelands during the winter of 1838-39.
The trek across the country is more than 900 miles taken over a three week period. The riders represent the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, stopping at places significant to the Trail of Tears.
The group stopped at the Roubidoux Spring, also known as Big Spring, at Laughlin Park in Waynesville, at the same site that their ancestors stopped 175 years ago. The encampments along the Roubidoux River at Waynesville were documented in journals by three men: Dr. W.I. Morrow (1837), Rev. Daniel S. Butrick (1839), and B.B. Cannon (1837). Those records led to Laughlin Park being designated as a certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in 2006. Laughlin Park is one of seven certified sites in Missouri.
Remember The Removal riders gather around as Waynesville Mayor Luge Hardman welcomes them to Laughlin Park. Laughlin Park is one of seven certified Trail of Tears sites in Missouri.
The riders noticed differences at the site from their 2012 stop. Waynesville has an ongoing project to improve the Trail of Tears site with an interpretive walking trail with exhibits.
Following an overnight stay in Pulaski County USA, Remember the Removal riders headed west towards Springfield, continuing their trek to their final destination of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation.
Riders take a well deserved rest along the banks of the Roubidox at the Big Spring in Waynesville, Missouri. June 14, 2013
Remember The Removal riders pose for a picture at Roubidoux Spring (also known as Big Spring) in Laughlin Park, Waynesville, Missouri with Waynesville Mayor Luge Hardman (orange shirt), Deloris Wood of the Missouri Trail of Tears Associaion, and Missouri District 122 Representative Steve Lynch.
To learn more about Remember The Removal Bike Ride, and to follow their journey, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/removal.ride
To learn more about the City of Waynesville, Missouri’s role as an encampment on the Trail of Tears please visit: http://www.waynesvillemo.org/encampment.htm
To learn more about other historical sites in Pulaski County USA please visit: http://www.pulaskicountyusa.com
Pulaski County USA 