TrailofTears

The 115th Annual Junaluska Wreath Laying Ceremony was held in Robbinsville on Nov. 5. Photo by Latresa Phillips/The Graham Star

‘The mountains are calling’

Latresa Phillips

Friday, November 14, 2025

Robbinsville – It was on a Saturday – Nov. 5, 1910 – that the Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated a memorial for Chief Junaluska in Robbinsville. Pastor Armstrong Cornsilk – a friend of the great chief – spoke kind words, hoping that “All could be happy together.

The annual Trail of Tears Walk attracted participants of all ages. Photo courtesy of Angie Knight/SnowbirdNEST

Attendees walk trail ‘where they cried’

Latresa Phillips

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Long Creek – It was a nippy morning as hikers hit the trail early Saturday for the annual Trail of Tears Walk, which commemorates the Cherokee Nation’s journey from the mountains they called home to resettle in Oklahoma during one of the darkest times in American History.

Tatham Gap Road was built as part of the Trail of Tears in 1836. Photo by Art Miller/amiller@grahamstar.com

Rough road, dark history

Robbi Pounds

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Robbinsville – There is an alternative route between Andrews and Robbinsville: one not burdened with traffic, but fraught with history. Tatham Gap Road, known to sports enthusiasts as the “Gravel Dragon,” is a U.S.