Ross's Landing
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Ross's Landing
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Water cascading down steps above Ross's Landing Riverfront Park
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| Location | Riverfront Pkwy. west of Market St., Chattanooga, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 35°3′23″N 85°18′32″W / 35.05639°N 85.30889°WCoordinates: 35°3′23″N 85°18′32″W / 35.05639°N 85.30889°W |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| NRHP reference # | 74001914 |
| Added to NRHP | June 27, 1974 |
Ross's Landing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the last site of the Cherokee's 61-year occupation of Chattanooga and is considered to be the embarkation point of the Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears. Ross's Landing Riverfront Park memorializes the location, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The landing was named for John Ross, later principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. In 1816 Ross settled at the site along the Tennessee River above Chattanooga Creek. There he established a trading post on the northern border of the Cherokee Nation, across the river from the United States of America. This area became known as "Ross's Warehouse," and "Ross's Ferry" (and alternatively, "Ross's Landing"). It was known to those passing through the area to have the best conditions for a river flatboat crossing. Ross operated a swing ferry across the river that was anchored on McClellan Island.
In 1826 Ross sold his land to a Methodist minister, Nicholas Dalton Scales, in order to move to Georgia to be closer to the political center of the Cherokee Nation.
When the United States government took over all the Cherokee owned lands in 1837, the "Removal" to Indian Territory began—known as the "Trail of Tears"—during which the Cherokee in several southeastern states were driven from their homes. Groups of the natives were staged at various camps, including east of Ross's Landing, for their coming expulsion west. On June 6, 1838, over 1500 Cherokee departed from Ross’s Landing in steamboats and barges. A final group of Cherokee left in the Fall of 1838, forced to walk due to the falling levels of water in the river caused by a drought. The westward march of the Cherokee claimed several hundred lives, including Ross' wife, Quatie.
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