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They belive that the United states should expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This painting was painted by John Gast in 1872 ans it was a popular scene of people moving west that captured the view of American at the time.

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Schoolhouse Rock: Elbow Room (Manifest Destiny)

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This manifest mostly impacted the country, It was the impulse behind the expansion of the United States into the west. Some of the examples of the big impacts in the country ware that helped impulse the western settlement, and pushed many Native American out of America. Later on, in 1846 was when the Northwest established limits in the 49th parallel. This occurs when Britain and the United States agreed to extend the border, witch it also established the actual border with the United States and Canada. The next trade was of Guadalupe Hidalgo that was between the United States and Mexico after the United States won the war in 1846, In that trade Mexico, agreed to the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, giving the New Mexico and California territories to the United States.

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Manifest Destiny also had a substantial impact on the people of the United states, it is what made the people themselves decide to "Go West!" Manifest Destiny inspired people to explore and settle in the west. The abundance of land in the west, along with new markets, and personal economic problems of people in the east were reasons that people liked this idea, it was an answer to their problems. People were convinced that they would be better off attempting a fresh start in the West. After the last expansion, gold was discovered at Sutter's' Mill, bringing many more Americans from the East, and benefitting them greatly, even bringing in people from outside America. This revolutionized America's economy. Manifest Destiny brought money, land, resources, and a strengthened economy to the Americans.

There were also negative effects of Manifest Destiny. This idea that it was their destiny to expand caused Americans to disregard the territorial rights of Native Americans, wiping out many tribes and causing a cultural divide, tension and wars. The negative effect that this had on Native Americans were lasting effects. Manifest Destiny also caused war and tension with Mexico for the same reasons. Manifest Destiny caused americans to feel entitled, greedy, power hungry, they wanted to be the best, which are poor qualities to have. Another negative effect was the affect this had on slavery. With the expansion came more farms, which in turn meant a greater need for slave workers, although Manifest Destiny later brought on debates about slaves, helping to end slavery.

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Manifest Destiny also had a substantial impact on the people of the United states, it is what made the people themselves decide to "Go West!" Manifest Destiny inspired people to explore and settle in the west.

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The gold seekers and the merchants from asia, a primarly from china started coming on 1849. At first in modest numbers to Gum San ("Gold Mountain"), the name given to California in Chinese. The Forty-niners came from Latin America, particularly from the Mexican near the districts of Sonora and Chile.

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What were immediate and long-term effects?

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What were immediate and long-term effects?

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One of the effects was that even though Marshall and Sutter tried to keep the secret of the discovery of gold. But by the middle of march there was at least one newspaper with the news that there was large quantities of gold found in Sutter's Mill. Even though the reaction of San Fransisco was disbelief, in the mibble of june 3/4 of the population left the town and went to mines of gold and the number of miners in the area reached 4,000 by August. But after december 1848 was when the feaver really started. when President James K. Polk announced the positive results of a report by Colonel Richard Mason, California's military governor, in his inaugural address. As Polk wrote, "The accounts of the abundance of gold are of such extraordinary character that they would hardly be believed if they were not corroborated by the authentic reports of the public service officials."

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How did the discovery of gold shape the economy and population in California?

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How did the discovery of gold shape the economy and population in California?

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The Gold Rush significantly impacted in the history of california and the United states. It created a lasting impact by impulsing a industrial and agricultural development and helped to shape the course of California’s development by introducing the economic growth facilitating its transition to statehood.

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Why were Native Americans forced off their lands?

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Why were Native Americans forced off their lands?

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Working in the name of the white settlers that wanted to cultivate cotton in the indian lands, The federal government obligated them to leave their homelands and walk hundreds of miles until they get to a territory named "Indian territory" specificaly in the other side of the Mississippi river. This difficult time was known as the Trail of Tears. This happened because the law requiered the government to negociate removal treaties fairly voluntarily and peacefully: It did not permit the president or anyone else to coerce Native nations into giving up their land. But the president jackson and his government ignored this law and obligated the native americans to leave their homelands.

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Define “Assimilation.” How did the US government encourage assimilation into American culture?

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Define “Assimilation.” How did the US government encourage assimilation into American culture?

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Many American leaders in the 1870s and 1880s thought that Indians should be encouraged or even forced to assimilate.  That means they wanted Indians to leave their tribes and ways of life, and instead adopt American ways of life. To encourage assimilation, the government passed a law called the Dawes Act in 1887.  It offered free farm land and help for Indian families that chose to leave their tribe and become settled, independent farmers.  Some Indians accepted the offer.  Most Indians, however, did not want to leave their tribes or become farmers.

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What events were key turning points in the relationship between the Plains Indians and the US government?

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What events were key turning points in the relationship between the Plains Indians and the US government?

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In the decade of 1840s the settlers moved west to the greate plains. they were looking for land and gold. The government built roads
and railroads for the settlers. The government wanted them to move to the reservations so they tried to convince them to sell their lands. The Plains Indians did not want to live and farm on the eservations. The reservations were small and  land was poor. Most of the indians were not farmers, they were hunters for many years. U.S. soldiers tried to make the Plains Indians give up their land and the native americans fought against the soldiers. Some of the battels that they fought were the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Battle of
Wounded Knee, and the Sand Creek Massacre. Finally the Indians were defeated and forced to move to the
reservations. They tried to force the Indians to give up their culture and
traditions. Indians were not allowed to have religious ceremonies, Indian children had to go to special schools, They were not allowed to speak Indian languages, and they
could not wear Indian clothing, Also the government wanted the Indians to become farmers. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act. This law broke reservation land into small pieces. The government gave
some pieces to Indians who promised to farm them and sold
the rest of the land to settlers.

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What attracted settlers to the Great Plains?

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What attracted settlers to the Great Plains?

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The settlers from Europe that were in search of liberty also saw an opportunity in move into the greate plains. This was an oportunity for the European immigrants to escape poverty in their home countries. The African American settlers also moved to the Great Plains to start their lives as free men.

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How did the physical geography impact settlers there?

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How did the physical geography impact settlers there?

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Pioneers passed through the Great Plains and continued to move west because they thought the area was unsuitable for farming.

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What new methods and technologies were invented to improve agricultural practices?

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What new methods and technologies were invented to improve agricultural practices?

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There were several new farming technologies and techniques such as the mechanized reaper, barbed wire, dry farming, steel plow, harrow, steel windmill, hybridization, and grain drill. The mechanized reaper made it easier to have larger farms without the need of extra hands.

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What hardships did they face? What convinced some to stay while others left?

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What hardships did they face? What convinced some to stay while others left?

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Settlers had to learn how to farm in the great plains, The soil was held together by grass roots that it was called sod. There was no wood so the settlers had to build their homes with grass,  Winters were long and cold. Summers were hot and dry. Since the grass was so dry theire was a lot of fires and settlers had to cultivate things that didnt need so much water. Some farmers used windmills to pump water
from underground.

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California Gold Rush, rapid influx of fortune seekers in California that began after gold was found at Sutter's Mill in early 1848 and reached its peak in 1852. According to estimates, more than 300,000 people came to the territory during the Gold Rush.

In 1848 John Sutter was having a water-powered sawmill built along the American River in Coloma, California, approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of present-day Sacramento. On January 24 his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found flakes of gold in a streambed. Sutter and Marshall agreed to become partners and tried to keep their find a secret. News of the discovery, however, soon spread, and they were besieged by thousands of fortune seekers. (With his property overrun and his goods and livestock stolen or destroyed, Sutter was bankrupt by 1852.) From the East, prospectors sailed around Cape Horn or risked disease hiking across the Isthmus of Panama. The hardiest took the 2,000-mile (3,220-km) overland route, on which cholera proved a far greater killer than the Native Americans. By August 1848, 4,000 gold miners were in the area, and within a year about 80,000 "forty-niners" (as the fortune seekers of 1849 were called) had arrived at the California goldfields. By 1853 their numbers had grown to 250,000. Although it was estimated that some $2 billion in gold was extracted, few of the prospectors struck it rich. The work was hard, prices were high, and living conditions were primitive.

In what was a typical pattern, the Gold Rush slackened as the most-workable deposits were exhausted and organized capital and machinery replaced the efforts of individual miner-adventurers with more efficient and businesslike operations. Likewise, the lawless and violent mining camps gave way to permanent settlements with organized government and law enforcement. Those settlements that lacked other viable economic activities soon became ghost towns after the gold was exhausted. The California Gold Rush peaked in 1852, and by the end of the decade, it was over.

The Gold Rush had a profound impact on California, dramatically changing its demographics. Before the discovery of gold, the territory's population was approximately 160,000, the vast majority of whom were Native Americans. By about 1855, more than 300,000 people had arrived. Most were Americans, though a number of settlers also came from China, Europe, and South America. The massive influx gave rise to numerous cities and towns, with San Francisco gaining particular prominence. The Gold Rush was credited with hastening statehood for California in 1850.

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California Gold Rush | Definition, History, & Facts

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Overview of the California Gold Rush, the rapid influx of fortune seekers in California that began after gold was found at Sutter's Mill on the American River in early 1848. The Gold Rush reached its peak in 1852. According to estimates, more than 300,000 people came to the territory during the Gold Rush.

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The California Gold Rush of 1849-1855 radically transformed California, the United States and the world. It prompted one of the largest migrations in U.S. history, with hundreds of thousands of migrants across the United States and the globe coming to California to find gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This led to the establishment of boomtowns, rapid economic growth and prosperity, as well as the building of railroads, churches and banks to accommodate the newcomers. The significant increase in population and infrastructure allowed California to qualify for statehood in 1850, only a few years after it was ceded by Mexico, and facilitated U.S. expansion to the American West.

The California Gold Rush took place against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution and served as an accelerant for U.S. economic development in the 19th Century. The influx of gold resulted in the expansion of manufacturing and the service industries, as many entrepreneurial newcomers took advantage of the demand for mining materials, lumber, clothing and transportation. Agriculture and retail also experienced exponential growth during the Gold Rush and led to California becoming an economic powerhouse by the end of the century. Some of today's most recognizable brands, businesses, and icons got their start during the Gold Rush. Henry Wells and William Fargo saw an opportunity to provide financial services to gold seekers and started a bank, Wells Fargo & Co.; Levi Strauss, a German immigrant, identified miners' need for sturdy clothing and created canvas pants that would withstand the punishing hours involved in gold mining; and American humorist, Mark Twain, got his start in San Francisco, where he initially joined his brother is prospecting for gold but ended up finding greater success as a reporter for The San Francisco Call. For historians and students alike, learning more about the California Gold Rush can help explain the development of the American West and how California came to be.

Historical Context of the Gold Rush

In February 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which effectively ended the Mexican-American War. The treaty granted over one million square miles of land to the United States, which included present-day Nevada, Wyoming, and New Mexico. At the time, the United States was influenced by significant expansionist sentiment, with President James Polk having won the presidency in 1845 running on a strong expansionist platform. Many Americans believed in what was called "Manifest Destiny," or, the idea that the United States' Westward expansion and acquisition of lands on the North American continent were both inevitable and justifiable.

California's Gold Rush and the fledgling territory's rapid increase in wealth and population necessitated a civilian government to maintain the public order and prompted its speedy entry into the United States in 1850. By contrast, territories such as New Mexico and Arizona didn't become states until 1912. California also boasted a community armed with a strong sense of ambition and civic duty; within a year, California sent representatives to Washington with a draft constitution to request statehood.

Brief History of the Gold Rush

For all its significance, the onset of the Gold Rush originated from a seemingly innocuous event. In January 1848, James Marshall, a carpenter, was building a sawmill for Swiss immigrant and pioneer John Sutter at Sutter's Fort, a trade and agricultural colony, when he spotted something shiny in the American River. Not sure of what he had found, he collected the apparent gold flecks and ran some rudimentary tests on them-including biting them and hitting them with a hammer. When their appearance did not change, Marshall confirmed they were genuine gold and quickly notified John Sutter. Sensing that the discovery would negatively impact the building of his sawmill and bring a large number of squatters to his land, Sutter swore all his employees to secrecy. However, news of the discovery quickly got out and spread across the region, including nearby San Francisco (known as Yerba Buena at the time). Soon, gold seekers from across the region swarmed Sutter's Fort, and just as Sutter had feared, his employees all left to look for gold. By many accounts, once news of the discovery reached San Francisco, the city quickly emptied, with workers deserting their workplaces, stores and ships to look for gold.

Within a few months, news of the gold discovery expanded beyond the region, with the Baltimore Sun becoming the first American newspaper to report on it in late summer. In the fall, the New York Herald ran a subsequent story on the gold discovery and by December, President Polk announced to Congress that significant amounts of gold were being discovered in California. The year 1849 prompted a massive migration to California from many parts of the country as well as places as far as China, Chile and France. The migrants, dubbed the "forty-niners" for the year of their trip, flocked to cities such as San Francisco and present-day Sacramento, which were experiencing unprecedented development. The population of San Francisco, for example, exploded from 500 in 1847 to more than 150,000 in 1852.

Effects of the Gold Rush

With the massive influx of migrants, California underwent a radical transformation in a very short amount of time. It changed from a sparsely populated region to a territory with enough people to constitute a state. At the time, the population of California was still predominantly Mexican; however, the arrival of many U.S. migrants quickly reshaped the local demographics. The newcomers often wanted to keep in touch with family around the United States and pushed for the development of new communication and transportation tools that would help them bridge the distance.

The famed Pony Express was created to send mail and parcels from California to the Midwest within a two-week period using ponies. Businessman and founder of the California Star newspaper, Samuel Brannan, created a delivery mail service called the California Star Express that connected California and Missouri. While the Gold Rush allowed some of the earlier prospectors to become rich, it was the ensuing economic development that sprang up around the industry that would prove most profitable; new businesses designed to satisfy the needs of gold prospectors and the mining industry would ultimately result in prosperity for merchants. The increased investment in the emerging California economy would have a lasting impact on both California and the United States.

Effects on Manufacturing and Industry

The Gold Rush led to an explosion in manufacturing for mining machinery and equipment for hydraulic operations, which were often used in the mining process and had previously been supplied by the East before the Gold Rush prompted newer, more immediate demand. The Gold Rush also led to increased production of lumber and the creation of new flour mills. The need for clothing increased dramatically, and the leather industry experienced significant growth. Wholesale and retail developed at this time and were instrumental in helping meet the growing demands of consumers.

Effects on the Development of Agriculture

The rapid development of agriculture-thanks to heightened demand and the availability of more sophisticated tools-was another major outcome of the Gold Rush. In fact, many who did not succeed in mining turned to California's "green gold"- taking full advantage of the state's favorable climate to produce massive amounts of fruits, vegetables and grains in order to feed denizens of the mining communities. Enterprising newcomers from Europe also saw an opportunity to satisfy demands for wine. They planted the first orchards and vineyards, and soon they were not only supplying locally but also exporting to other countries; California varietals remain some of the most sought-after and highly regarded wines to this day.

International Effects of the Gold Rush

California-based businesses weren't the only ones benefiting from the Gold Rush, as foreign producers and manufacturers found new markets for their products in the United States. Agricultural producers in Chile suddenly had new consumers for their fruit; China started exporting significant amounts of sugar, and Norway eyed California for opportunities to expand its naval shipping industry. All this economic expansion necessitated new financial services, and several banks would also grow out of the Gold Rush and its aftermath.

Effects on Transportation

The fervor surrounding the Gold Rush led to a revolution in transportation. New roads, bridges, ferries, wagons and steamships were created to help prospectors reach California, which was fairly isolated at the time. The accelerated development of transportation culminated in the building of the isthmus across the Panama Canal, which significantly hastened travel time to California. San Francisco-which experienced the largest economic boom at the time-saw its rapid modernization and economic development rewarded, as it was chosen as the site for the western terminus for the first transatlantic railroad, which linked the East Coast with California through Omaha and revolutionized transport and commerce.

Suddenly, California became the hub of a new Pacific market, and as Friedrich Engels wrote to his collaborator, Karl Marx, the new economy and markets arising from the Gold Rush seemed to "come out of nothing."

Negative Outcomes of the Gold Rush

The Gold Rush was not beneficial to all, however. It led to increased violence against Native Americans, tens of thousands of whom are estimated to have lost their lives in clashes with settlers. Later in the Gold Rush, immigrants from China often experienced intense discrimination. During the 19th century, China struggled economically, and thousands of young Chinese men immigrated to California in the hopes of earning enough money to support their families back home. Some Americans-unfairly convinced that these Chinese immigrants were taking revenue and employment opportunities away from other Americans-pushed to place restrictions on Chinese immigration and to create a tax on all foreign miners working in California.

The Gold Rush also had a severe environmental impact. Rivers became clogged with sediment; forests were ravaged to produce timber; biodiversity was compromised and soil was polluted with chemicals from the mining process. Additionally, the Gold Rush created a severe lack of labor in the non-gold mining industries of not just California, but areas such as Great Britain, China and Hawaii-all of which experienced mass emigration in the wake of Gold Fever. Finally, while the Gold Rush helped boost the international economy as businesses in other countries sought to meet the demands of gold prospectors, the increasing amount of gold in circulation resulted in higher prices for commodities as well as inflationary shock, as the monetary standard of the time was backed by precious metals.

The Gold Rush significantly influenced the history of California and the United States. It created a lasting impact by propelling significant industrial and agricultural development and helped shape the course of California's development by spurring its economic growth and facilitating its transition to statehood. The Gold Rush also led foreign businesses to flourish as they expanded the export of their goods and services to the booming new consumer markets in California. Today, the effects of the Gold Rush can still be observed in California. The state's slogan, "Eureka!" ("I found it!") is a nod to Gold Rush prospectors. The Gold Rush also attracted dreamers, adventurers and vagabonds from all over the world and epitomized much of what came to be known as the American Dream. Many scholars and theorists have drawn parallels between the spirit of the Gold Rush and the ongoing technological and entrepreneurial boom experienced in Silicon Valley. It is therefore vital for students of history to form an understanding of the geopolitical, economic and social effects of such movements in the United States.

Learn More

Norwich University is an important part of American history. Established in 1819, Norwich is a nationally recognized institution of higher education, the birthplace of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and the first private military college in the United States.

With Norwich University's online Master of Arts in history, you can enhance your awareness of differing historical viewpoints while developing and refining your research, writing, analysis and presentation skills. The program offers two tracks-American history and world history-allowing you to tailor your studies to your interests and goals.
Recommended Readings: Sources:
7 Major Emperors During the Rise of the Roman Empire
8 Famous Historical Figures of Twentieth Century America
The American West: A New Interpretive History, Google Books

Gold Nugget, The National Museum of American History

California Gold: An Authentic History of the First Find With the Names of Those Interested in the Discovery, The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

California Admission Day September 9, 1850, California Department of Parks and Recreation

The Golden Skein: California's Gold-Rush Transportation Network, JSTOR

Samuel Brannan, PBS

The California Gold Rush, National Park Service

After the Gold Rush: Migration of gold-seekers helped shape California's future, National Geographic

California Gold Rush, Encyclopedia Britannica

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Historical Impact of the California Gold Rush

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The California Gold Rush of 1849-1855 radically transformed California, the United States and the world. It prompted one of the largest migrations in U.S. history, with hundreds of thousands of migrants across the United States and the globe coming to California to find gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida-land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians' land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk hundreds of miles to a specially designated "Indian territory" across the Mississippi River. This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears.

The 'Indian Problem'

White Americans, particularly those who lived on the western frontier, often feared and resented the Native Americans they encountered: To them, American Indians seemed to be an unfamiliar, alien people who occupied land that white settlers wanted (and believed they deserved). Some officials in the early years of the American republic, such as President George Washington, believed that the best way to solve this "Indian problem" was simply to "civilize" the Native Americans. The goal of this civilization campaign was to make Native Americans as much like white Americans as possible by encouraging them convert to Christianity, learn to speak and read English and adopt European-style economic practices such as the individual ownership of land and other property (including, in some instances in the South, African slaves). In the southeastern United States, many Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee people embraced these customs and became known as the "Five Civilized Tribes."

Did you know? Indian removal took place in the Northern states as well. In Illinois and Wisconsin, for example, the bloody Black Hawk War in 1832 opened to white settlement millions of acres of land that had belonged to the Sauk, Fox and other native nations.

But their land, located in parts of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, was valuable, and it grew to be more coveted as white settlers flooded the region. Many of these whites yearned to make their fortunes by growing cotton, and they did not care how "civilized" their native neighbors were: They wanted that land and they would do almost anything to get it. They stole livestock; burned and looted houses and towns; committed mass murder; and squatted on land that did not belong to them.

State governments joined in this effort to drive Native Americans out of the South. Several states passed laws limiting Native American sovereignty and rights and encroaching on their territory. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the U.S. Supreme Court objected to these practices and affirmed that native nations were sovereign nations "in which the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force." Even so, the maltreatment continued. As President Andrew Jackson noted in 1832, if no one intended to enforce the Supreme Court's rulings (which he certainly did not), then the decisions would "[fall]...still born." Southern states were determined to take ownership of Indian lands and would go to great lengths to secure this territory.

Indian Removal

Andrew Jackson had long been an advocate of what he called "Indian removal." As an Army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida-campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers. As president, he continued this crusade. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the "Indian colonization zone" that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase. (This "Indian territory" was located in present-day Oklahoma.)

The law required the government to negotiate removal treaties fairly, voluntarily and peacefully: It did not permit the president or anyone else to coerce Native nations into giving up their land. However, President Jackson and his government frequently ignored the letter of the law and forced Native Americans to vacate lands they had lived on for generations. In the winter of 1831, under threat of invasion by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled from its land altogether. They made the journey to Indian Territory on foot (some "bound in chains and marched double file," one historian writes) and without any food, supplies or other help from the government. Thousands of people died along the way. It was, one Choctaw leader told an Alabama newspaper, a "trail of tears and death."

The Trail of Tears

The Indian-removal process continued. In 1836, the federal government drove the Creeks from their land for the last time: 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks who set out for Oklahoma did not survive the trip.

The Cherokee people were divided: What was the best way to handle the government's determination to get its hands on their territory? Some wanted to stay and fight. Others thought it was more pragmatic to agree to leave in exchange for money and other concessions. In 1835, a few self-appointed representatives of the Cherokee nation negotiated the Treaty of New Echota, which traded all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi for $5 million, relocation assistance and compensation for lost property. To the federal government, the treaty was a done deal, but many of the Cherokee felt betrayed; after all, the negotiators did not represent the tribal government or anyone else. "The instrument in question is not the act of our nation," wrote the nation's principal chief, John Ross, in a letter to the U.S. Senate protesting the treaty. "We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people." Nearly 16,000 Cherokees signed Ross's petition, but Congress approved the treaty anyway.

By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had left their Georgia homeland for Indian Territory. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the removal process. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while whites looted their homes and belongings. Then, they marched the Indians more than 1,200 miles to Indian Territory. Whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation were epidemic along the way, and historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the journey.

By 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans had been driven off of their land in the southeastern states and forced to move across the Mississippi to Indian Territory. The federal government promised that their new land would remain unmolested forever, but as the line of white settlement pushed westward, "Indian Country" shrank and shrank. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian Territory was gone for good.

Can You Walk The Trail of Tears?

The Trail of Tears is over 5,043 miles long and covers nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is run by the National Park Service and portions of it are accessible on foot, by horse, by bicycle or by car.

Sources

Trail of Tears. NPS.gov.
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At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida-land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States.