The Bell Route, one of several routes used during Cherokee Removal, was traveled by a group of about 650 Cherokee people from October 1838 to January 1839. This route takes its name from John Adair Bell, the conductor and organizer of the detachment, and signer of the infamous Treaty of New Echota (1835). Because of Bell’s political stance, the group was referred to as the detachment of the “Treaty Party (so called).” On the route, at least twenty-three people died—two of them infants—and survivors faced an uncertain future and continued conflict in the West.

This database includes sources about the Bell Route for research and reference. The Origins section illustrates the background of Bell Detachment members in the Cherokee homeland. Route explores the logistics in their forced emigration. Aftermath investigates the lives of Bell Detachment survivors in the Cherokee Nation west. Context offers more information with guided reading of sources, and our Search feature invites you to explore across the record groups.