<P> Alexis de Tocqueville, the French philosopher, witnessed the Choctaw removals while in Memphis, Tennessee in 1831: </P> <P> In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung . The Indians were tranquil, but sombre and taciturn . There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Chactas were leaving their country . "To be free," he answered, could never get any other reason out of him . We...watch the expulsion...of one of the most celebrated and ancient American peoples . </P> <P> Nearly 17,000 Choctaws made the move to what would be called Indian Territory and then later Oklahoma . About 2,500--6,000 died along the trail of tears . Approximately 5,000--6,000 Choctaws remained in Mississippi in 1831 after the initial removal efforts . The Choctaws who chose to remain in newly formed Mississippi were subject to legal conflict, harassment, and intimidation . The Choctaws "have had our habitations torn down and burned, our fences destroyed, cattle turned into our fields and we ourselves have been scourged, manacled, fettered and otherwise personally abused, until by such treatment some of our best men have died". The Choctaws in Mississippi were later reformed as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the removed Choctaws became the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma . The Choctaws were the first to sign a removal treaty presented by the federal government . President Andrew Jackson wanted strong negotiations with the Choctaws in Mississippi, and the Choctaws seemed much more cooperative than Andrew Jackson had imagined . When commissioners and Choctaws came to negotiation agreements it was said the United States would bear the expense of moving their homes and that they had to be removed within two and a half years of the signed treaty . </P> <P> The U.S. acquired Florida from Spain via the Adams--Onís Treaty and took possession in 1821 . In 1832 the Seminoles were called to a meeting at Payne's Landing on the Ocklawaha River . The treaty negotiated called for the Seminoles to move west, if the land were found to be suitable . They were to be settled on the Creek reservation and become part of the Creek tribe, who considered them deserters; some of the Seminoles had been derived from Creek bands but also from other tribes . Those among the tribe who once were members of Creek bands did not wish to move west to where they were certain that they would meet death for leaving the main band of Creek Indians . The delegation of seven chiefs who were to inspect the new reservation did not leave Florida until October 1832 . After touring the area for several months and conferring with the Creeks who had already settled there, the seven chiefs signed a statement on March 28, 1833 that the new land was acceptable . Upon their return to Florida, however, most of the chiefs renounced the statement, claiming that they had not signed it, or that they had been forced to sign it, and in any case, that they did not have the power to decide for all the tribes and bands that resided on the reservation . The villages in the area of the Apalachicola River were more easily persuaded, however, and went west in 1834 . On December 28, 1835 a group of Seminoles and blacks ambushed a U.S. Army company marching from Fort Brooke in Tampa to Fort King in Ocala, killing all but three of the 110 army troops . This came to be known as the Dade Massacre . </P>

Where did the cherokee live before the trail of tears