Faults, Gold, and the Cherokee Removal
Faults act as channels for migration of fluids and were a key factor in localizing gold in certain zones. Although the date that white settlers discovered gold in the Southern Appalachians is uncertain, there is no doubt that gold caused profound changes in the human history of the area. The Cherokees living in the region knew about the gold, but it did not have the same significance for them as it did for the new settlers.
In 1829, newspaper articles described vast riches of gold in Cherokee land in Northern Georgia. Thousands of miners quickly flocked to the area with dreams of quick riches. They washed gravel from banks of the streams to search for gold.
The frenzy caused by the discovery of gold hastened the removal of the Cherokees by a forced march to Oklahoma during the winter of 1837-38. More than one-third of the Cherokee people who started the march died along the way, on what is now known as the Trail of Tears.
Encyclopedia ID: p1553
