Friday, March 29, 2024

Traveling the Trail of Tears by covered wagon

At nearly 80 years old, Gene Glasscock and his young 62-year old wife Noqah, of North Carolina, are fulfilling a passion of theirs by traveling the entire Trail of Tears northern route. The same trail the Cherokee people walked en route to Indian reservations in Oklahoma.

Noqah, which means ‘Star’ in Cherokee, is Cherokee and considers this journey a memorial to her diseased son.

The couple began their trip on April 8, 2014, at Black Mountain, North Carolina, and hope to reach Oklahoma by October 11, Gene’s 80th birthday. They crossed the Ohio River into Illinois at Cave In Rock. They will cross the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau in the next few days. However, they are considering staying in Vienna for a few days, until the current heat wave passes and temperatures drop.

The Glasscocks said they have been treated with nothing but kindness from people along their journey. “People have gone out of their way to accommodate us,” Noqah said.