The 'Trail of Tears' was a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. By 1838, 50,000 Native Americans from these Southeastern States had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres for predominantly white settlement. The trail west was a 'forced march' and many died en-route.

Some of the Cherokee, 'The Eastern Band', stayed in North Carolina, much to the chagrin of the government. These Cherokee are still there and are concentrated around the town of Cherokee on the eastern slope of the Great Smoky Mountains.

So, the 'Trail of Tears' occurred over eight years. Later movements of Indians may have followed more or less the same route west, but they were not 'escorted' West by the U. S. Army in a 'forced march' as occurred in the period 1830-1838.