the Cherokee, they agreed to cede their remaining lands and to removal in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi River. The Cherokee were to have sovereignty in that western territory, to be known as Indian Territory. Despite objections from John Ross, who represented the large majority of Cherokee to the US government, the Senate ratified the treaty. The US government eventually forced most of the Cherokee out of the Southeast. In 1838 the U.S. Army, under the command of Winfield Scott, began the forced removal of Cherokee from the state of Georgia. A Cherokee concentration camp was located at New Echota, called Fort Wool. This held Cherokee from Gordon and Pickens counties until their removal. As the first group of Cherokee began their exodus to Rattlesnake Springs, Cherokee Nation (4 miles south of Charleston, Tennessee), the Cherokee from counties south and east of the area also were housed here. New Echota Historic Site After the Cherokee were fully removed in 1838, their capital remained abandoned for more than 100 years. Many of the structures disappeared, though some of the houses continued to be used. Most notable was the house of Samuel Worcester, who was called "the Messenger," and who had served as a missionary to the Cherokee. When its landowners deeded land to be commissioned to the state for preservation, the Worcester House, the largest remaining structure, had been vacant for two years. It had deteriorated in that time. From 1930 to 1950, the site was designated by Congress as the New Echota Marker National Memorial. In March 1954, the archeologist Lewis Larsen from the Georgia Historical Commission, and five associates were assigned to oversee the work of excavating New Echota. The team uncovered evidence not only of the Cherokee settlement in New Echota, but also of much earlier indigenous cultures. They asked the National Park Service archeologist Joe Caldwell and two more workers to join them for the next two months as they continued excavation. The group recovered a Spanish coin dated 1802, crockery, household wares, bootery remains, a small quantity of lead, and 1700 other artifacts. They identified 600 items as having belonged to the Cherokee. In addition to the standard finds and remains of many buildings, Larsen and Caldwell astonished the world by discovering much of the type syllabary that was once used to print the Cherokee Phoenix. On March 13, 1957, following the news of