The area of the Sweetwater Creek park used to belong to the Cherokee and according to a legend “ Sweetwater ” means the name of Chief Ama-Kanasta . In 1819 , hunger for land led the state of Georgia to appeal to the United States government to remove the Cherokee ; the appeal was rejected . In 1827 , the state of Georgia began to divide the Cherokee lands through lotteries . In 1829 , just elected president Andrew Jackson and an ally of the state of Georgia , sided with the state . Even though the U.S. Supreme Court ’s decree stated that Georgia had no right to forbid the Cherokee government , in 1831 , Georgia ’s General Assembly arranged all Cherokee land inspected and distributed by lottery . In 1838 , federal troops started forcing the Cherokee to leave Georgia and Alabama and about 20,000 were forced to west to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Sweetwater Creek State Park