With an April air date, Net’s “The Trail Of Tears” is truly an auspicious television event. Written by Lane Slate, who also produced and directed it, “The Trail Of Tears” is a powerful drama about the tragedy of the Cherokee Indians in the last century. It stars Johnny Cash as the chief of the Cherokee Nation, in his first major non-singing role, Melvyn Douglas, Pat Hingle, and as narrator, Joseph Cotton. June Carter appears in a cameo role. Johnny Cash was attracted to the project by virtue of his part-Cherokee ancestry. If you cherish fine TV. See, ”Trail Of Tears” You’ll never forget it. In 1928 a small Indain boy in the great Smokies sold a gold nugget to a white trader, and sealed the doom of the Cherokees. Georgia, with the Supreme Court approval, annexed the land of the Cherokees for gold and forced them west. The Cherokees a peaceful tribe, were rounded up and placed in stockades. Among them, Chief John Ross (portrayed by Johnny Cash), his Christian wife (played by Cherokee Paulette Smart) and their children. Thus began what may be the blackest chapter in America history. On a chilly October morning in 1838, guarded by 7,000 soldiers, they were loaded into 645 wagons, and the terrible journey to Oklahoma began. En route, 4,000 Cherokees, including John Ross wife died and all for gold.

Behind the scenes of “the Trail Of Tears” filmed on location where it all began, in the Smokies, there was an urgent sense of mission. Many real Cherokees were utilized in the large cast, more than half of which is made up of local non-pros. Cash may have felt a kinship with Ross, who, born of Scottish parents, was one quarter Cherokee too (on his mother’s side) Certainly, he brought a deep a deep dedication to the role and delivers a strong characterization. You see him here, script seldom out of his hands, with director Lane Slate, cast and crew, and his wife June Carter and obviously very much at home in the bloodstained land of his paternal ancestors. 

NOTE : This Movie Seems To Be Not Available By PBS  
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Note: Johnny Cash later in a statement admitted that He had no Indian blood in him. 

Revised: September 03, 2007