Feds 
dig up remains of fort

COKER CREEK, Tenn. – The U.S. Forest Service has begun to uncover the remains of a fort used to temporarily house migrating Cherokee along the Trail of Tears more than 170 years ago.

The land in Monroe County where Fort Armistead once stood has never been plowed or developed, so walking along the trails there and passing the numerous springs used by the Cherokee is like traveling back in time.

Forest Service archaeologist Quentin Bass told the Knoxville News Sentinel that work has revealed the locations of block houses, a parade ground, a powder magazine, barracks and storage pits. Archaeologists and volunteers also have discovered many articles discarded by soldiers and Cherokee.

The U.S. Forest Service bought the 26-acre site in 2005 from the Dalton family. Kathleen Dalton said they had heard about rumors of a fort on the property, but after they found artifacts at the site, they knew the land should belong to the public.

“No one outside of this area knew about the location, but it was carried down through oral tradition,” Bass said.