Cave Spring - Vestiges of the Trail of Tears in Georgia
Cave Spring, GA
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Hidden in plain sight in the Green Hotel in Cave Spring was the Vann Cherokee Cabin pictured below. Beginning in 2010, the city of Cave Spring began work to dissasemble the hotel and rennovate the cabin which now stands in its original spot on the square in Cave Spring. It is believed to have been built about 1810.
Image source" https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lrk2SNPYdGuEGiVB2
The town of Cave Spring was known as Beaver Dam by the Cherokee. In 1830 an incident occurred here in Vann Valley. The National Park Service refers to this as "The First Blood Shed by the Georgians." I wonder if this may be considered the "Flash Point" for the Trail of Tears just as the firing on Fort Sumter was the flash point for the Civil War.
The reporting by the Cherokee Advocate and the Augusta Constitutionalist give radically different accounts of the battle.
From the National Park Service brochure:
Seventeen white families from Georgia and Alabama illegally took possession of Cherokee homes here in the Beaver Dam settlement in February 1830. Cherokee Chief John Ross responded by sending a mounted police force, the Light Horse Brigade, to evict them. Major Ridge, David Vann, and the brigade went from home to home, forcibly evicting white intruders and burning empty Cherokee structures to discourage future settlement. Retaliation came the following day in the death of one Cherokee and the imprisonment of others.[1]
The Cherokee Advocate reported...
"... A Cherokee has... been killed by the intruders, and three more taken bound into Georgia... A company of Cherokees... started the other day under the authority of the Principal Chief to correct, at least part of the evil... They found... 17 families of intruders, living, we believe, in Cherokee houses. These they ordered out and after safely taking out their bedding, chairs, etc, the houses were set on fire. In no instance was the least violence used on the part of the Cherokees."[2]
The Augusta Constitutionalist reported...
The followng letter comes form a respectable source, and may be relied on as authentic. Its details may be considered the first fruits of the "philanthropic" movement at the North for withough stimulus and encouragement from that quarter, the Indians would never have dared to commit such savage barbarities, of which the solicited letter contains the record. Last Friday fortnight commenced in the Beaver Dam, as far as we have learned, extended throughout the state, one of the most severe north-east storms accompanied with sleet and snow, that we have had for many years; and that and the two succeeding days were bitter cold. This was the day these savages selected to make an attack upon the inhabitants of Vann's Valley, turning out women and children -- women in child-bed and children just born -- in the pelting of the pitiless storm, and burning the only shelters for their defenceless bodies for many miles round. We regret that the mob who accompanied the party in pursuit, could not be restrained from inflicting summary punishment upon the barbarians -- we regret that it was not left for the laws of the state to take their silent but sure course in bringing them to justice -- but so far from being surprised that the Indians, when overtaken by the whites, should have been severely beaten, we are astonished they were not massacred to a man. Vann's Valley, it will be noted, is in that part of the Indian territory lately run off by Col. Wales, claimed by Georgia as having belonged to the Creeks, and ceded by them to the state. It is, to put it on the most favobable basis for the Indians, disputed land. The Indians had nearly all abandoned it, and sold out their possessions to the whites. They were the families of these whites who were inhumanely treated.
Cave Spring is much more than the site of a battle and the Vann Cherokee Cabin. It is the home to the Georgia School for the Deaf and you're likely to encounter people who are deaf, but in my half dozen visits I have not encountered anyone who had difficulty reading my lips. It is said that most everyone in town signs and you will often see them signing to each other. Please be aware that you need to face someone when you speak to them.
Image source Wikipedia
The town is also the site of Rolater Park and Cave Spring. In the 1930's the WPA built this stone building at the front of the cave and spring and you can now walk into the cave and along the spring bed for a self-guided tour. If you're so inclined and it's a really hot day, you can also soak your butt in the spring fed pond in the park. Every time I have visited there's been a crowd. The water is COLD! - 58 degrees.
Cave Spring is also the home of several nice restaurants. There's Local Joes for barbecue, A & B Creekside for great country cooking, and a 4 star fine dining restaurant, Linde Linde's on the Square. Dress is business casual to Sunday dress up. They're only open for supper, but it's well worth the trip for a great meal.
You should also check out the The William S. Simmons Plantation Home. It was evidently the home place of David Vann and the Cherokee kitchen still stands behind the house.
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