This is Cherokee Capitol Square in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The monument is to John Ross (pictured below), long-time elected Cherokee chief.
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The Cherokee sued the US government over the order of removal from their eastern lands to Indian Territory. The case went to the Supreme Court.
John Ross
Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of the Cherokee and their right to remain in the east.
President Jackson defied the court. The forced Removal became known as the Trail of Tears. The last 4,000 holdouts traveled west in late fall and winter of 1838-1839. At the end of that Trail of Tears, Tahlequah became the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
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Tahlequah Courthouse
This courthouse in downtown Tahlequah is the oldest government building in Oklahoma.
