Sand Mountain lay in an area that included disputed borders between the Creeks and the Cherokee . Although Alabama became a state in 1819 , until the 1830s much of northern Alabama was still officially Cherokee territory . However , white settlement in the area increased steadily , coming to a head with the gold rush in the nearby mountains of northwest Georgia . While gold supplies began to dwindle , soon eclipsed by the California Gold Rush , the settlement by white farmers continued and played prominently in the expulsion of Cherokee , Creek and Choctaw nations from the area . That expulsion is called the Trail of Tears , considered an act of genocide because of the thousands who died on the journey , and the forced removal of native peoples from their home territories . ( In nearby Fort Payne , which lies across the valley and at the foot of next-door Lookout Mountain , there is a historical sign marking the town as one of the starting points for the Trail of Tears , and also the area where Sequoyah lived , who developed the Cherokee alphabet . ) During the times of slavery , Crossville , Sand Mountain and DeKalb County , where Crossville is located , were not major slave areas . This can be verified by a study of census rolls which reveal a mostly poor area , where people worked and survived by the labor of their own hands , rather than the forced labor of captive Africans and their descendants . Leading up to the Civil War , DeKalb County was typical of Southern mountain counties in that it voted against secession from the United States . This can be corroborated by a study of the roster of the votes on this issue , county by county . In fact , there was serious discussion among Northern Alabama and East Tennessee counties about forming a proposed state of Nickajack , rather than going along with secession
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Crossville, Alabama