The demon of this place has already cast his icy chains around me: Fort Armistead and the Cherokee Removal

The 21st Annual Rita Vital Memorial Moccasin Bend Fall Lecture Series kicks off on Monday, September 28 at 7: 00 pm in the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Auditorium.

The demon of this place has already cast his icy chains around me: Fort Armistead and the Cherokee Removal

Fort Armistead, located in Coker Creek, Tennessee, is a remarkably well-preserved National Historic Landmark site that reflects the turbulent last years of the Cherokee Nation in the east, and the forcible deportation of Cherokee peoples in 1838. Archaeological and documentary studies of the site detail the history of this rare surviving example of a military facility associated with the tragic Trail of Tears episode of American history. This remote station was abandoned in 1839 but was reoccupied as Camp Coker Creek by Confederate forces in the winter of 1862 and became a center for the bitter internecine war that engulfed the East Tennessee mountains.

The speaker for the evening will be Dr. Brett Riggs, Sequoyah Professor of Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University. Dr. Riggs is the former deputy tribal historical preservation officer for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and in 2016, was named an Honorary Member of the ECBI. Riggs has an extensive list of publications and reports credits and has presented at numerous professional meetings and conferences. He serves as executive board member for the National Trail of Tears Association and was the Native Affairs Liaison Committee chair for the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. Riggs earned his doctorate and master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Tennessee and his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Wake Forest University.