Almost 4,000 Cherokees died along the Trail of Tears in 1838 when thousands were force-marched to reservation land in Oklahoma. A small group of Cherokees had signed the Treaty of New Echota with the U.S. government which turned over Cherokee lands in the east to the government in exchange for land in Oklahoma. Although most Cherokees protested the treaty, the entire tribe was rounded up under the command of General Winfield Scott and forced westward to Oklahoma, along the Trail of Tears. These ancient water oaks still stand today along the route these Native Americans were forced to tread.