The Appalachian mountain region in Georgia is one of the most beautiful places in America and until one hundred years ago it was the home of a remarkable Indian nation, the Cherokees. The Cherokees had developed a great civilization and had adapted it to the ways of the white man. But the white man broke faith with the Cherokees and drove them from their homes to exile, a tragic trail which is still called the Trail of Tears. This book is the story of the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears.

Only the Names Remain recounts the history of the Cherokees, their first meetings with white settlers and how they learned to work with them, the development of the Cherokee alphabet by Sequoyah, and their betrayal by President Andrew Jackson, their former ally. It was the Cherokees' mis-fortune that gold was discovered in their land and that the cotton gin was developed. Then the white man wanted the land for its precious gold and to grow cotton. Slowly the Cherokees were deprived of their rights and their land and were finally gathered together for the exile to Arkansas along the Trail of Tears.

The children of America should know the story of the Cherokees. Their poignant tale is a sad but important part of American history.

From the dust jacket