History

Trail of Tears to be Recreated in Ark.

posted: 23 July 2007 05:39 pm ET

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Trees and grasses like those that members of the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations saw when they stopped along a stretch of Coleman Creek may soon grow again at the site where the Indians rested during the Trail of Tears relocation.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Thursday started tearing down buildings on the five-acre site on the southeastern border of its campus. The buildings, including a former restaurant with pilings driven into the creek, are in the waterway's floodplain.

The area will be restored with native trees, rocks and grasses, with the intent of making it look as it did when members of the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations used the spot for a water stop during their forced migration to what is now Oklahoma.

Nearby Asher Avenue now occupies part of the route of the Old Southwest Trail, which was a foot, horse and wagon path traveled by the Indians.

Footpaths at the site will include three markers noting the area's significance, said Dan Littlefield, director of UALR's Sequoyah Research Center.

The campus master plan calls for creation of a 47-acre greenway that stretches the full length of the campus and has walking and bicycle trails.

"Landscape engineers tell us this will be the biggest project of de-urbanization in the history of the state,'' said Dave Millay, director of UALR's physical plant and chair of the Coleman Creek Greenway Project.

The university acquired the land in 2004 when it bought the University Plaza Shopping Center, which extended UALR's border to Asher Avenue.

On Thursday, university and city officials walked among pieces of heavy equipment to break ground for the project.

Audubon Arkansas donated $75,000 toward the project, a foundation for the family of Johnnie Chamberlin gave $30,000 and FTN Associates, a water resources environmental consultant firm, gave $135,000 in the form of 1,500 hours of volunteer service on the Coleman Creek project.

UALR spokeswoman Joan Duffy says the restoration does not have a firm price tag. The entire project is funded by private donations and work will occur as money comes in, she said.

Officials said the project is ideal for teaching and research for biologists, earth scientists, and hydrologists. The work will tie the campus and Coleman Creek with a regional open space system that includes the Fourche Creek Wetlands and War Memorial Park.

"The restoration of Coleman Creek is the single most important conservation project undertaken thus far in the Fourche Creek watershed,'' Audubon Arkansas board member Robert Shults said.