Bicyclists tracking Trail of Tears through NW Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE — Bicyclists associated with the Cherokee Nation are to ride through Benton and Washington counties along the route of the Trail of Tears.

The bicyclists on Wednesday are to ride down Business 71 from Rogers and take Old Wire Road in Springdale. They're expected at Fitzgerald Station on Old Wire Road between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. as they head into Oklahoma.

The riders are taking the northern route of the Trail of Tears from Georgia. They're going through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas before concluding the ride in Tahlequah, Okla.

The riders are marking the forced removal of Indians across the South and relocation in what was then Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Two groups of Cherokees went through Fayetteville during winter 1838-1839 en route to Fort Gibson, Okla.

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