LOCATING LOST GRAVES ALONG THE TRAIL OF TEARS USING NON-INVASIVE GEOPHYSICAL METHODS

During the winter of 1838-39 thousands of Cherokee were escorted by U.S. federal soldiers across southern Illinois to be relocated in Oklahoma. Although hundreds of people died during the forced march, internment records were not kept and burial locations remain lost to this day. Local history suggests that some Illinois settlers allowed Cherokee to intern their dead on small plots of land adjacent to their own family cemeteries. The Camp Ground Church Cemetery, initially a small family cemetery, lies on the approximate route taken by the Cherokee nation on the Trail of Tears. The cemetery was founded in the early 1830's and historians believe sections of this cemetery may contain unmarked Cherokee or early American graves. A selection of non-invasive geophysical remote sensing methods was used to investigate this possibility because of their effectiveness in similar studies and the uniqueness of this site. Explanations of data collection methods and processing techniques will be presented along with the results of the study. Models and interpretations of the geophysical data indicate that these remote sensing methods can be used to successfully locate and image marked and unmarked graves at this particular cemetery. Unmarked graves were detected which may belong to the Trail of Tears time period.