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This page will focus on the oppressive meteorological conditions faced by the Five Civilized Tribes in the aftermath of the Indian Removal Act signed into law by Andrew Jackson in 1830 and investigate the climate of the time 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.

Since official, detailed weather observations were not made until the US Weather Bureau was established in 1870, 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. The Little Ice Age is marked by global temperatures approximately 0.1-1.0°C cooler than today’s average and is not a true Ice Age. However, glaciers did advance during this time 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. Little Ice Age records suggest that precipitation was generally high and summer temperatures were generally low, which contributed to the increase observed in glacial mass during that time. Explosive volcanic eruptions have the capability to lower global temperatures by as much as 1°C by introducing sulfur and aerosols into the lower stratosphere and troposphere. 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. While there has been no direct correlation with the slight drop in early 1830s temperatures with the eruption of the volcanic island Ferdinandea near Sicily in 1831, indications are strong that the drop in temperatures may have been a result of this eruption. There was a large eruption of Cosigüina in Nicaragua in January, 1835, but recent geological analysis suggests that this eruption had a very minimal affect on global temperatures due to its low sulfate content. Overall, the Little Ice Age and the early 1800s were times of high volcanic activity, which tends to bring about lower temperatures. During the Dalton Minimum (1790-1830), sunspot activity was at its lowest point in recent history and volcanic activity was at its highest. Volcanism and reduced solar irradiance are the suspected culprits of the drop in temperatures during this time, with volcanism being a more important climate force. Since the Dalton Minimum in the 1830s on, global temperatures have been trending warmer, with much of the warming attributed to greenhouse gases.

Fossil pollen analysis using the Modern Analog Technique (MAT) gives clues about past climate conditions. Using the MAT method, fossil pollen is compared to modern pollen and when the ancient and modern specimens structurally match, it is assumed that the fossil pollen must have been created in a climate similar to the modern pollen. Fossil pollen indicates that eastern North American temperatures were about 0.5°C cooler than today. However, some studies of tree rings show that temperatures estimated using this method underestimate the actual coldness of the Little Ice Age. 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. Aside from three days of rain that slowed their passage through the Mississippi swamps, the expedition encountered few obstacles. The group returned home to Mississippi in February of 1831, very satisfied with what they had seen and experienced. Unknown to everyone involved, the weather for the rest of the tribe’s journey would be much different than what the original group witnessed.

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a fluctuating pressure differential between the sub-tropical high in the Bermuda Azores and the polar low in the North Atlantic. The pressure seesaw is measured in terms of positive or negative values and the values are a harbinger of weather conditions in Eastern North America and Europe. 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. It has been suggested that the fall temperatures were especially cold during the 1830s, leading to more intense thunderstorm activity along strong cold fronts. This is especially true in cases where a positive NAO values results in a low-level jet drawing abundant gulf moisture north. Also during this time there was a strong El Niño event. Strong El Niño conditions are thought to intensify winter weather events, especially in the Eastern US. 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. However, due to immense summer and fall precipitation, coupled with what was hailed as the worst blizzard on record for the South, the recently refurbished roads in Arkansas became mud pits. The well-laid plans had to be scrapped in early November as the emigrants began arriving at the Mississippi River after trudging through a wintry mess.

The torrential rains in Arkansas coupled with the unprecedented blizzard resulted in a two-week delay along the banks of the Mississippi. Thousands of Choctaws languished away while they waited on Gaines and the other removal officials to procure steamboats necessary take the newly devised river routes and avoid the washed-out roads. 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. These extra supplies they had been promised were not going to be delivered to the destitute Choctaws now, thanks to the poor conditions.

French author Alexis de Tocqueville was living in Memphis during the winter of 1831-32 when he witnessed a group of Choctaws passing through. De Tocqueville wrote:

It was then the middle of winter and the cold was unusually severe; the snow had frozen hard upon the ground and the river was drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them and they brought…the wounded and sick, with children newly born and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither tents or wagons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them embark to pass the mighty river and never will that solemn spectacle fade…No cry, no sob was heard among the assembled crowd; all was silent. (Gilbert 1996, p. 27)

Another tragedy was about to befall this group of downtrodden individuals de Tocqueville saw. Due to a logistical mistake, the steamboats meant to take all 2500 Choctaws from Memphis to Little Rock were stopped at Arkansas Port. Everyone aboard disembarked and Captain Brown, whose military post was completely unprepared to care for such a large number of people, was put in control. The post could only muster 60 small army tents to shelter more than 2000 Choctaws from the howling winds, sleet and snow. Many of the emigrants at the military post were scarcely dressed and most children had no clothes at all.

After six days of below-freezing temperatures, the Arkansas River was too frozen over for the steamboats to return to Arkansas Port and rescue the stranded emigrants. Eight days after they arrived, a convoy of 40 wagons arrived with blankets and food, but many Choctaws and soldiers had already frozen to death or died of pneumonia. The wagons attempted to move the survivors to Fort Smith. The roads between Arkansas Port and Little Rock were in need of repair after the storms and barely passable, but Capt. Brown decided to use them anyway; it was his only option. It was reported that rain fell almost everyday in February, making some roads virtually impassable. Their journey met multiple delays caused by fallen trees, washed out roads and bridges in need of repair from the battery they had received from the recent storms.

Finally, by the first week of March, 1832, all the different groups of Choctaws traveling from Mississippi to their new homes in Indian Territory reached their destination. After five months of harsh conditions leading to death, disease and dangerous situations put upon them by poor planning on the part of the US government and a winter synoptic setup favorable for severe winter weather, it was time to start a new life. While there is no accurate death toll from the first group of people removed under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, it appears to be somewhere around 1000, with a large margin of error.

Due to their expense, the first round of removals were considered a miserable failure by the US Government. After restructuring, the second round of Choctaw removals was said to have been more successful, but this was purely from an economic standpoint. More Choctaws had been moved, but more had also died due to exposure and cholera. It should be noted that despite the previous group’s problems with winter weather, the second group left at the exact same time of year—late October/early November, 1832. While weather can be directly attributable to many deaths on this journey because of exposure and exacerbation of illness, cholera was the primary nemesis of this group’s trip. However, weather conditions may have contributed to the spread of cholera along the journey.

The removals beginning in the fall of 1832 were marred by a panic over an outbreak of cholera. Cholera spreads through faecally contaminated water or food. 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. 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 plight of William Armstrong’s party…worsened as torrential rains made the Arkansas swamps almost impassable. At one point the road they traveled was waist-deep in water and mud for mile after tortuous mile. Armstrong made every effort to relieve the suffering, but as in the preceding removal, the agents were unable to cope with the destructive power of nature, and many of the Choctaws died of exposure. (DeRosier, Jr. 1970, p. 155-156)

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.

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.

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 1st, as opposed to the beginning of November. Fortunately for everyone involved, the weather cooperated for the entire trip and the party arrived in Indian Territory on December 20.

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 effect on the removals of the Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw Tribes.