Steve Highbarger writes: > I hope all of you will bear with me here for a minute. After reading > several books on the "Trail of Tears" it appears that the northern route > passed through present-day Laclede county near Conway, which at the time > Dallas County wasn't formed. Was the south-east corner of present-day > Dallas County part of Laclede County in the 1837-1839 time period? Steve, See http://rosecity.net/tears/trail/map.html which shows the northern route following just south of present-day I-44. Present-day Dallas county was part of Polk Co. at this time, including the strip east of the panhandle that was given to Webster Co. in 1855. So, my reckoning is that the trail just missed the SE corner of Polk (now Dallas) county. Yes, some Cherokee families managed to "drop out" along the way, and many others died. I've read of mothers having to leave their dead frozen babies along the trail, because if they stopped to bury them, they would have frozen themselves. Your family story about the Sweeney (Sweaney) family adopting an orphaned Cherokee child has credence. -- Gary Swift