Later , during the 1830s roundup of Cherokee for Indian Removal , Tsali , his wife and brother , his three sons and their families were taken by surprise and marched at bayonet point toward the Indian Agency on the Hiwasee River . When Tsali 's wife paused to care for the needs of her baby , one of the guards whipped her and prodded her with his bayonet , to force her on her way . According to a secondhand account by Wasidana , Tsali 's son , the mother and baby were forced onto horseback and , in the process , " she got her foot hung in the stirrup . Then her baby dropped . It went that way , out yonder , and bust the head . And it died right then . " In response , a surprise attack was made on the soldiers , one guard was killed and the rest wounded or subdued . Tsali and his relatives fled to the mountains and hid out in a cave in the Smoky Mountains . His successful evasion was reported to the other Indians by grapevine and soon the mountain Cherokees by dozens , then by hundreds , joined him in the hideout , living off roots and berries on the border of starvation
Indian Removal
Trail of Tears
Tsali