This summer when we drove through Waterloo, Alabama we saw the Trail of Tears plaque on the Tennessee River which gave information about how thousands of Cherokees had passed here on the Trail of Tears. Waterloo was a waystation where people had come from other areas to await steamboat passage for their eventual destination of Oklahoma. During the War, Sherman crossed the river here and stayed a while in the town.
Each year, there’s a Trail of Tears Commemoration and Motorcycle Ride that begins in Chattanooga and ends in Waterloo.
…and when we passed the cemetery we saw this huge monument for Ezra Lee Culver:
…which mentioned many of his accomplishments in spite of the fact that he had a fourth grade education. He had developed an innovation with concrete and using that, took part in the construction of Yankee Stadium, the Planetarium in NYC, Lincoln Tunnel, the Waldorf-Astoria, General Motors Buildings in Flint, and the Florida Keys bridges, among others.
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The National Park Service has a Trail of Tears site for driving directions, etc.