Partial Removal
"Our ancestors essentially became fugitives in their own homeland. After the Indian Removal Act of 1830, they retreated into heavily forested, marginally desirable land along the Tombigbee River, married amongst themselves, and maintained a separated community... Isolation helped to spare our people from persecution, although not completely. Elders describe atrocities against our ancestors such as being hunted down and imprisoned; killed, dismembered and stuffed in a gopher hole; or taken West in periodic "Indian round-ups" by government-paid contractors."
-MOWA Choctaw Federal Recognition Committee (2003)
Andrew Jackson
Did You Know
Individuals from each tribe managed to evade the troops dispatched to enforce this removal policy, but most Choctaws seem to here circumvented the orders, probably because so many lived in dense swamps and piney woods, terrain that was not highly valued by land spectators.
Framon Weaver, the great, great, great, grandson of Chief.
Mobile Officials Attempt to Dispel Choctaws (1832)
Mobile municipal committee issued a resolution calling upon the federal government "to procure the removal of the Indians the corporate limits of the city of Mobile."
Indian School Built in Mt. Vernon, Alabama (1835)
A government Indian school was built for the ancestors of the MOWA Choctaws on County Road 96 (Old St. Stephens Rd.) near the U.S. Army Mount Vernon Barracks. It was described In the Library of Congress Historic Building survey as "built by Indians by Indian labor”. Elders recognize the photograph of the old Weaver school and can point out its former location in their community.
Choctaw Trail of Tears (1831 - 1833)
There were three removal periods impacting Choctaws living in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Lousiana. Approximately 17,000 Choctaws together with 1,000 slaves were moved with thousands more dying of disease, starvation, or exposure.
Approximately 7,000-8,000 Choctaws remained in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Reports of Choctaws Living in Mobile (1832)
George S. Gaines (postmaster at the Choctaw Trading House, established adjacent to St Stephens Town) reported “A great number of Choctaw Indians for many years post have resided with the corporate limits of this city (Mobile) during the winters and spring months, and many families remaining through the summer, to the annoyance of the citizens...”
