Weather and Climate during the Trail of Tears

This page will focus on the oppressive meteorological conditions faced by the Five Civilized Tribes in the aftermath of the Indian Removal Act signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. Climate of the time will be investigated using a variety of paleoclimate proxies and documented weather conditions taken from first-hand accounts. Removal of the Native Americans from the Southeast US was a key political platform for Andrew Jackson and he was relentless in seeing that the Indians were relocated to the West to make room for white settlers in the South. Most of the heartache, illness and misery experienced by the Native Americans can be attributed to extreme weather conditions and a lack of preparation by the US government in its haste to relocate the indigenous peoples. The mandated emigration took place near the end of what is known as the Little Ice Age, a stadial event that occurred roughly between 1550-1850 A.D. Harsh weather conditions played a key role in the horrendous suffering of the emigrants and many times contributed to or hastened their deaths.
Overview
In the 1830s, the Five Civilized Tribes began officially leaving their homeland in the southeastern United States for land in present day Oklahoma as a provision of the Indian Removal Act. Although there is no official death toll of the emigrants who traveled along its path, it is believed that tens of thousands of Native Americans perished along the Trail of Tears. It is evident that the US government was somewhat concerned with the well-being of emigrates, but quickly and cheaply getting them out of the Southeast United States to make room for white settlers was the ultimate goal. the best source of weather information comes from published literature sharing details from those who experienced removal first-hand, both Native Americans and Euro-Americans. Climate details and synoptic setups are revealed through analysis of paleoclimate proxy data including tree rings (dendroclimatology), fossilized pollen, isotopic abundances of Oxygen and glacial mass balance and what they reveal about global temperatures and prevailing atmospheric conditions of the time.
The Little Ice Age and the 1830s
The Little Ice Age has no official beginning, but scholars generally agree it began around 1350-1550 after the Medieval Warm Period. There is agreement among scientists when the Little Ice Age ended; the mid 19th Century with the beginning of the post-industrial era. and with uneven distribution of heat and cold, local temperatures could have been much colder than global average temperatures detected by proxies. A number of theories attempt to explain what brought about the Little Ice Age, such as a minimum in solar activity, increased volcanism, and changes in the thermohaline circulation as a result of melting polar ice during the Medieval Warm Period, but this page will focus on climate forcings that most likely occurred during the 1830s, the time of the Indian Removals, and relate those to weather conditions observed and recorded by people.
Dendrochronology indicates the 1830s experienced one of the last periods of glacial growth globally, including North America. These particulates may remain in the atmosphere for as long as 7 years, but tend to have the most significant impact on climate about a year from the time of the eruption. Overall, the Little Ice Age and the early 1800s were times of high volcanic activity, which tends to bring about lower temperatures. Since the Dalton Minimum in the 1830s on, global temperatures have been trending warmer, with much of the warming attributed to greenhouse gases. One of the few places that took official meteorological measurements with instrumentation during the 1830s was in Portage, WI at Fort Winnebago Army base. Temperatures were averaged on a monthly basis and compared with temperatures observed in the mid-twentieth century. The temperatures collected in the 1830s were 2°-3°C colder than the temperatures they were compared with in the 1940s.
Synoptic Setup During the Choctaw Removal
After passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Choctaw Nation was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to make the trek westward to their new homes in Indian Territory. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 authorized the Choctaw removal. To appease tribal elders upset over the treaty they felt was obtained through deceit, the US War Department assembled a party to explore the new land. The group consisted of eighteen Choctaw leaders, twelve cavalrymen, an Army surgeon and George Gaines, a white man whom the Choctaw Nation trusted. Tree ring data suggests that the NAO took a sharp positive turn in the early 1830s when the Choctaws were moved. Positive NAO values usually bring wetter and milder winters to the eastern US by drawing up gulf moisture. All these atmospheric conditions set the stage for a humanitarian disaster for the removal of the Choctaw Nation in the form of heavy rains and harsh winters.
Observed Weather Conditions During The Choctaw Removal
Gaines was placed in charge of the removal and initial plans were made to transport 6000 Choctaws by wagon for the 550 mile journey, with numerous stops meticulously planned to restock with food and supplies along the route. Although the Choctaws had only completed the first leg of their 550-mile journey, they were exhausted and hungry after having traveled through days of relentless blizzards, many of them barefoot. The Choctaws had been advised not to bring anything extra with them because travel accommodations did not allow for personal possessions, but supplies would be issued as needed at designated rest stops along the route. Cholera outbreaks are linked to unsafe water and unsanitary conditions. Large groups of refugees without decent access to drinkable water and clean conditions are particularly vulnerable to contracting cholera.<ref name=WHO/> This quote sums up everything that ailed the Choctaws on their second journey and could give insight why the cholera outbreak was so bad that year:
The waist-deep water had the potential to be contaminated because of the enormous amount of excrement produced by the people who walked through it before it rained. The traveling parties were so worried about cholera that some chose to seek new routes in order to avoid following groups in front of them.
In contrast to the last trip, the second removal group all arrived in Indian territory by February, and some estimates even say everybody arrived by the end of December. The government had saved a lot of money by cutting back on wagons and making more people walk the entire journey, so spirits were probably not much higher than the first group’s were. Even though they arrived a month or two earlier, an enormous number of people still died on the journey.<ref name=DeRosier/>
For the final mass removal, government agents were dealing with the effects of a wet winter and spring when Arkansan farmers harvested a sub-standard amount of corn, driving the prices up. The US government did not want another costly removal, nor did they know how many people would volunteer to make the trek, so no preparations or procurements were made beforehand. The US government was taking a huge gamble by relying on good weather for the duration of the trip.<ref name=DeRosier/>
Only about 800 Choctaws signed up for the final removal. Aside from that, there was one other huge difference in the itinerary; they left on October 1, as opposed to the beginning of November.<ref nameDeRosier/> Fortunately for everyone involved, the weather cooperated for the entire trip and the party arrived in Indian Territory on December 20.<ref nameDeRosier/>
Conclusion
People who know about the Trail of Tears understand that exposure to extreme weather played a significant role in the suffering and deaths of the thousands of Native Americans. However, there is no comprehensive study to map day-to-day weather conditions during removal. Through a combination of both a lack of knowledge about the weather patterns, as well as having no contingency plan in the event of severe weather delays, the Indians paid the price in illness and death. Through extensive research of paleoclimate proxies, scientific journals, books, historical documents and family collections, it is possible to determine the general meteorological conditions during this time period. However, it is virtually impossible to find a scholarly publication focused solely on weather during the Trail of Tears, but there would certainly be an interest in such an article.
Perhaps the 1830s and the Indian Removal Act has not traditionally been adequately explored in most American History classes is because it is one of the most embarrassing “foreign” policy mistakes in US history. In today’s mentality, what the US government did to the Indians is considered criminal. If there were more open dialogue and a demand to completely understand every aspect of this complex social subject, then maybe there would be more grants funding meteorological research on that time period. Until that time, we will have to continue to piece together the weather conditions as they are randomly referenced in published books by historians. This site could benefit by the addition of weather’s affect on the removals of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw Tribes.

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