TUSCUMBIA-A sure sign that fall is on the way is the rumble of motorcycles filling the air in the Shoals.
During the final days of summer for the past 20 years, the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride has rumbled through the Shoals. This year’s ride gets under way Friday, Sept. 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The riders will travel from Chattanooga to Bridgeport, Ala. on the first leg of their journey. Then, on Saturday, Sept. 20, the riders will travel from Bridgeport to Waterloo, closely following one of the routes used during the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The forced removal became known as the Trail of Tears because of the many hardships the Native Americans endured as they were moved to western reservations.
The annual motorcycle ride, which started in 1994, is a tribute to 1,070 American Indians who were forced
to walk or ride wagons from Ross’ Landing in Chattanooga to Waterloo in June 1838, where they were to be placed on riverboats to continue their journey westward. According to Shoals historians, many of the Indians died while en route to or at Waterloo.
Ike Moore, vice president of the Huntsville-based Alabama Trail of Tears Corridor Association, has spent the summer combatting rumors that the motorcycle ride has been cancelled. While a separate group that traveled mostly through Tennessee to reach the Florence in recent years for a Trail of Tears ride has disbanded, the ride through northern Alabama is still alive and well.
“We are going to ride rain or shine, just like we always have,” Moore said. “I have calls and emails from people all over the United States and Canada who said they are coming to the ride.”
Moore expects more than 10,000 riders to be in the convoy of motorcycles by the time it reaches Waterloo. The riders will travel from Huntsville to the Shoals on U.S. 72. The riders should arrive in Florence around 1:30 p.m. where they will travel on Cox Creek Parkway, Veterans Drive and Alabama 20 before making their way to Lauderdale 14 (Waterloo Road). The riders will not stop in Florence. He expects the ride to arrive in Waterloo around 2 p.m.
The annual Waterloo Pow Wow, featuring food and arts and crafts vendors and Native American dancers, 
musicians and story tellers is Friday, Sept. 19- Sunday, Sept. 21 in the west Lauderdale County town. The pow wow is presented by the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission. The festival and motorcycle ride provide a major economic boost to the town.
Susann Hamlin, executive director of the Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau, said Colbert County hotels, restaurants and other businesses are bracing for a busy weekend during the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride events. Hamlin said many of the riders will visit Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and other cities and communities in the county. Several Colbert businesses are offering special events for the Trail of Tears riders.
More details about the ride are available online at al-tn-trailoftears.net or by calling 678-743-3868.
2 comments
This is more of an insult than commemorative. Let’s celebrate the slaughtering of Native Americans (The Real Americans) by riding up and down the streets all weekend with loud motorcycles. This is nothing more than a revenue collection for local gas stations, not to mention clogging up with highways.
Go ahead and delete this comment like you always do but you know in your heart that this event is wrong!
I am a native Americans and this isn’t a insult anyone that wants to celebrate in any kind of way they are free to ,this is the 21st year and it was a honor for me to be there walk the walk, be part of what my family had to go through, the pow wow and what it stands for. I’m sure if you would go back in your passed family history you will find you have Indian in you too. I also ride on a bike and you need to respect the rider look arounsandrad they do a lot more for people them anybody around.