SUMMARYJohn Ross, Ross's Landing and the Red Clay councils (Nov 8, 2026; TANASI line research)
RECORD (National Park Service, Trail of Tears NHT, "Ross's Landing")"Site of Cherokee businessman John Ross's ferry operation"; he "established a ferry crossing and warehouse here between 1813 and 1816"; in 1838 it was a holding camp and launch point for the first three removal detachments; "over 1,300 Cherokees were crowded onto flatboats pulled by steamboats" in the first two; the third, 1,072 people, crossed on Ross's ferry and went overland to Waterloo, Alabama; 216 deaths were recorded across the first three detachments
RECORD (Wikipedia, "Ross's Landing")"The name Ross's Landing was changed to Chattanooga by American settlers who took over the land after the Removal" (citing Armstrong, 1992)
RECORD (Tennessee Encyclopedia, "Red Clay State Historic Park," Lois I. Osborne)"From 1832 to 1837 it was the site of eleven general councils"; Georgia had "made it illegal for the Cherokees to meet together for any reason other than to treaty away their land"; "the Ridge faction signed the Treaty of New Echota"; removal came "by federal troops along the Trail of Tears"; the 1984 reunion "was commemorated by a return of the eternal flame to Red Clay."
PATTERNa Cherokee town's landing became a removal port and then got a new paper name; the national council had to cross a state line to meet at all
DISPUTEDthe line sheet's "Red Clay 1838": the encyclopedia says a regular 1838 session was planned but never held; councils ran 1832–1837
LENS (WW9)Chattanooga's first name was a Cherokee man's landing
OPENChattanooga renaming date (1838 vs 1839) from the Hamilton County record; Ross's own letters and the council memorials (Papers of Chief John Ross, ed. Moulton); Worcester v. Georgia (1832) text for "FOUGHT IT IN COURT." Connects: P860, P861, P863.