Fort Butler Memorial, Murphy
The memorial is a rough cut granite marker with a smooth front face shaped much like a large tombstone with an arched top. It stands on a single base made of concrete.
SITE OF / FORT BUTLER / COMMANDED BY / GENL. WINFIELD SCOTT / DURING THE ROUNDUP /
OF THE CHEROKEE / INDIANS FOR REMOVAL / TO OKLAHOMA IN 1837-1837
DONATED TO TOWN OF MURPHY / BY TARHEEL INVESTMENT CO. / AS A HISTORIC MONUMENT
Circa 1970’s
35.081520 , -84.041540
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Anderson, William L. and Wetmore, Ruth Y. Cherokee, Part V: The Trail of Tears and the Creation of the Eastern Band of Cherokees, NCpedia.org, (accessed April 16, 2016) Link
Sakowski, Carolyn. Touring The Western North Carolina Backroads, Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2011), (accessed April 16, 2016) Link
“Fort Butler Memorial Park In Murphy, NC,” Ashley Fetner Fine Art Photography, (accessed April 16, 2016) Link
“Fort Butler Memorial Park – Murphy, NC,” Waymarking.com, (accessed April 16, 2016) Link
Yes
Granite
Tarheel Investment Company
Fort Butler was one of six forts built in North Carolina for the purpose of gathering the Cherokee Indians for removal to Oklahoma in what is infamously remembered as the “Trail of Tears.” Most of the Cherokee refused to go voluntarily and a military force of 7,000 soldiers under the command of General Winfield Scott occupied Fort Butler to use as its headquarters after which the forced removal began in earnest. More than 3,000 Cherokee from Western North Carolina and North Georgia passed through Fort Butler on their way to internment camps at Fort Cass in Tennessee. Of the total 15,000 Cherokee forced to relocate, an estimated 4,000 died along the way to Oklahoma.
Fort Butler Memorial Park is located on Ft. Butler Street in Murphy, NC.
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