The Trail of Tears was a horrible time in the history of the Cherokee Indians. May 18, 1830 marked the beginning of a devastating future for the Cherokee Indians. That day Congress officially passed the Andrew Jackson Indian Removal Act. This policy granted President Andrew Jackson the right to force the Cherokee tribe of approximately 13,000 people to leave their approximately 100 million acre reservations east of the Mississippi River in the Appalachian Mountains and undertake a long and tortuous journey of approximately 1,200 miles. within nine months until they reached their new home, a government-controlled area in what is now Oklahoma. They left their land which was home to the “Five Civilized Tribes” who were assimilated. The elderly and sick were forced to move at gunpoint. The Indians had to take what they needed and leave their home in a matter of minutes, leaving behind their valuables and their homeland which American thieves stole and took their property. The journey of three groups of Indians began in the summer of 1838. The Indians traveled by railroad, boat, wagon, and on foot across water and land routes. A group traveling on the Arkansas suffered about five deaths a day from illness and dehydration. Approximately 15,000 captive Indians continued to await their removal. Many died due to overcrowding, poor sanitation and drought. The Indians asked to postpone the move until the fall, when they would relocate voluntarily. This request was granted and they remained in the camps until they could continue their journey. As fall approached, 12 parties of about 1,000 Indians each were now on their way west. Autumn brought heavy storms that made travel much more difficult as the wagons got stuck along the muddy trail. Food was scarce, and few plants or animals inhabited the path along which they trudged. A survivor of the Trail of Tears said: "We have been traveling to a new land for a long time. People feel bad when they leave the Old Nation. Women cry and make sad laments. Children cry and many men cry... but they say nothing and he lowers his head and continues to go west. Many days pass and people die a lot.". Fresh water was so scarce that the Indians began drinking plain water, which caused a terrible disease. The survivors would live to tell stories of how they watched their father, then their mother, then every single sibling in their family die of disease one by one every day until none other than they were left. The journey was especially hard on infants, children, pregnant women and the elderly. Many of the pregnant women did