Trail of Tears board decides to end ride in Florence

Despite the controversy that surrounded this year's annual Trail of Tears ride, organizers say they will continue to advocate that it stop in Florence rather than continue on to Waterloo as the traditional last stop in the Alabama leg of the event.

The Trail of Tears made headlines earlier this year when the board decided the ride should end at McFarland Park in Florence. That decision and the subsequent protests made this year's ride the ninth top story of 2006 among TimesDaily staffers.

Bill Cason, a member of the Trail of Tears board as well as the originator of the event, said his main concern is for the approximately 150,000 riders.

"We never intended people not to go to Waterloo if they wanted to," he said. "But the official ride ends in Florence."

It's tough news for Jerry McIntyre, mayor of the small town in western Lauderdale County.

"Vendors said the attendance was a little off from years past," he said. "But we'll still host the riders, complete with vendors and other fundraisers. We'll still be open for business."

He estimated between 45,000 and 50,000 riders continued on past McFarland Park to Waterloo at this year's ride.

During the commemorative event, motorcyclists travel the 230 miles that retraces the route that American Indians were forced to take on foot and by wagon from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Waterloo, where they were put on boats for the final journey to reservations in Oklahoma.

It was a horrendous journey that resulted in the deaths of thousands of American Indians.

Event organizers cited safety as well as a loss of revenue from the sale of unlicensed merchandise as reasons for the change in venue.

In the early years of the ride, Cason said money that was raised went into establishing historical markers and other signs to indicate the route.

With that task complete, money has been set aside for scholarships for American Indian students.

McIntyre contends there is no such thing as licensed merchandise for the event.

"Sure there are people selling unlicensed merchandise," he said. "But the trail is a historical landmark and not something that can be patented."

As the ride grows, McIntyre said Waterloo plans to take advantage.

Cason said the ride has a history of outgrowing venues; Scottsboro and Stevenson are two Alabama cities that can no longer support the event.

"We've outgrown Waterloo," he said. "We've done a lot for them, and they make their living off us all year, but we're not obligated to them; we're obligated to the Indian nation."

For now, Cason said Florence seems the right fit for the ride, able to accommodate riders and tourists with hotels and restaurants across the Shoals.

"It's all a local controversy, and people who come all over the country and globe still want to ride," he said. "It doesn't really make a difference where it stops to them."

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@timesdaily.com.