Barn at Red Clay State Park
Red Clay State Park is located in the farthest southwest corner of Bradley, County, right above the Tennessee-Georgia state line. The park has 260 acres of very narrow valleys that were used as cotton and pasture land. There are also forested ridges that average 200 feet or more above the valley floors.
This historical site contains a beautiful natural landmark, the great council spring, or blue hole, which rises beneath a limestone rock to form an extremely deep pool that flows into Mill Creek, a tributary of the Conasauga and Coosa River system. The Cherokee used the spring for their water supply during a council meeting.
The people that live in Red Clay today are quiet and very hardworking. Ancestors of many of the town's residents were among the first Native American and Anglo-American settlers in Red Clay.
What made Red Clay famous were the events that happened between 1832 and 1838. By 1832,the State of Georgia had taken away the Cherokee's sovereignty,and had banned all Cherokee political activity in the state of Georgia. The Cherokee weren't aloud to hold council meetings other than to treaty away all of their land. As the result, the Cherokee capital was moved from New Echota, Georgia to Red Clay, Tennessee.
Red Clay was the seat of the Cherokee government from 1832 to 1838 because of the Cherokee removal. It was the site of 11 general councils. Principal Chief John Ross, the leader of the Cherokee, led the fight for them to keep their eastern land, refusing to move his people to Oklahoma. Controversial treaties resulted to the surrendering of land and the very end of the Cherokee's future in the east.
Council House replica
Red Clay was where the Trail of Tears began and where the Cherokee realized they had lost their streams, mountains, and valleys forever.
Red Clay proved to be the Cherokee's last refuge before being moved west from their homes in the southeastern United States. Today the Red Clay State Historical Area is listed in the National Register of Historic Parks. It is still honored today by the remaining Cherokee as sacred grounds.