Toward the Setting Sun: John Ross, the Cherokees, and the Trail of Tears - Hardcover

Hicks, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802119638 ISBN 13: 9780802119636

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr, 2011

Synopsis

<div><i>Toward the Setting Sun</i> chronicles one of the most significant but least explored periods in American history, recounting the little known story of the first white man to champion the voiceless Native American cause.<br><br>Son of a Scottish trader and a quarter-Cherokee woman, Ross was educated in white schools and was only one-eighth Indian by blood. But as Cherokee chief in the mid-nineteenth century, he would guide the tribe through its most turbulent period. The Cherokees' plight lay at the epicenter of nearly all the key issues facing a young America: western expansion, states' rights, judicial power, and racial discrimination. Clashes between Ross and President Andrew Jackson raged from battlefields to the White House and Supreme Court. As whites settled illegally on the Nation's land, the chief steadfastly refused to sign a removal treaty. Only when a group of renegade Cherokees betrayed their chief and negotiated an agreement with Jackson's men was he forced to begin his journey west. In one of America's great tragedies, thousands died during the Cherokees' migration on the Trail of Tears.<br><br><i>Toward the Setting Sun</i> retells the story of expansionism from the native perspective, and takes a critical look at the well-rehearsed story of American progress.</div>

About this title

About the Author

<div>Brian Hicks is a senior writer for <i>The Post and Courier</i> in Charleston, S.C. where he lives. This is his fifth book on Cherokee heritage.<br></div>

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Toward the Setting Sun

John Ross, the Cherokees and the Trail of TearsBy Brian Hicks

Atlantic Monthly Press

Copyright © 2011 Brian Hicks
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780802119636
From the prologue:

When Harris cocked his rifle, Ross wheeled his horse around and galloped off, retreating by the sound of the gun’s report. Ross knew the countryside well, and that knowledge gave him an advantage in the dark. He rode fast, knowing that it was not only himself, but the entire Cherokee Nation he had to save. The tribe depended on him; there was no one else who could stop Jackson.
Even though the attack made his blood boil, turning to fight never occurred to Ross. He was not a warrior, and he knew it. Ross’s only thoughts were of escape. Although it would have been natural to be afraid, Ross was more annoyed than anything else. The attack was just something else standing in the way of his business. He knew that he must get away, but he still had much work to do.
Andrew caught up to Ross within minutes, and the two rode quickly and quietly through the night. After a while, they turned off the trail that led to Coodey’s, not wanting to bring this trouble on their nephew.
As his horse sprinted, dodging branches on the narrow trail, John Ross had little time to wonder who had sent this man Harris. Had it been the governor of Georgia, the president of the United States, or one of his own tribesmen? In truth, he knew it mattered very little at that moment, because he could hear the man gaining.
And then, another shot rang out in the dark.


Continues...

Excerpted from Toward the Setting Sun by Brian Hicks Copyright © 2011 by Brian Hicks. Excerpted by permission.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802119638
• ISBN 13: 9780802119636
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 421