Before Indian Removal, the Cherokee Nation was centered in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains—southwestern North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, western South Carolina and northeastern Georgia. The Cherokee attempted to address their grievances by taking their problems to the American Federal judicial system. In 1830, a delegation led by Chief John Ross defended Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. The Indian cases set a precedent in Indian Country but was in vain as the Cherokee Nation was set upon the Trail of Tears. After the removals, the Cherokee Nation was found west of the Mississippi River, and some Cherokee were still found in the Blue Ridge Mountains.