Red Clay State Historic Park

Cleveland, Middle Tennessee

Selected by Park Manager Erin Medley & Seasonal Interpretive Ranger Aubrey Michaels

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The 1830 Indian Removal Act resulted in the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from Tennessee, which opened their homelands to American settlers who quickly moved into the newly available land and significantly changed the nation’s internal borders. Many members of displaced Tribes moved through Tennessee on the Trail of Tears on their way to their allotted land in Oklahoma-territory. 

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Red Clay was the last Eastern capital of the Cherokee people before their forced relocation to Oklahoma in 1836. The Council Spring (Blue Hole Spring) on the site remains a solemn and sacred place for many Cherokee and is the heart of the park. Today, Red Clay State Historic Park maintains, preserves, and conserves this landscape.