Ringgold honors Cherokee history with historic marker
The Ringgold Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) unveiled the first historical narrative tablet highlighting Native American experience in Ringgold, featuring Cherokee Chief Richard Taylor.
The Ringgold marker, placed at the parking entrance of the Richard Taylor Nature Trail off Emberson Drive, denotes the tremendous contributions of the founding father of the region for which ‘Taylor’s Crossroads’ was initially named. The community was renamed to Ringgold in 1847 a few years after Taylor led a group on the Trail of Tears.
“We unveiled the tablet on the 175th anniversary of the beginning of that group’s journey, Sept. 20, 1838, remembering our connection to one of the saddest periods in our nation’s history,” said Randall Franks, CVB vice chairman.
The tablet tells the story of how Taylor held a leadership role among the Cherokees for much of his adult life, serving as one of 13 members of the Cherokee National Committee, representing the Chickamauga district of the original Cherokee Nation as a delegate to Washington on numerous occasions, and was eventually elected as assistant chief.
Franks, a journalist and author, compiled the information for the tablet but credited historians William H.H. “Bill” Clark, Nancy Crowe, the late Susie Blaylock McDaniel, Janet and David G. Campbell, Norman Lansford and Cherokee.org for their work in recording some of the history featured and Rachel Brown for editing.
Clark attended the unveiling and spoke briefly about Taylor saying he knew at least three presidents personally as well as a U.S. Supreme Court chief justice.
“When compared with his times and contemporaries, he was probably the most outstanding man the Catoosa County area has produced,” he said. Taylor operated an inn, tavern, tollgate, saw mills and gristmills at Taylor’s Crossroads, according to Clark.
The CVB is planning additional markers that tell the story of various peoples who made their homes along the creek in Ringgold Gap and plan on placing them throughout the trail system, according to Franks.