Art Book Portrays Arkansas; Tragic Trail of Tears

Photo Submitted

Cover of "Stone Songs" by Pat Musick

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In March 2002, noted artist Pat Musick, her husband, Jerry Carr, and historian Bill Woodiel set out to commemorate northern Arkansas’s Benge Route of the great and tragic Trail of Tears. On the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees, among other American Indian tribes, were forced to migrate westward, leaving their homelands in 1838 for the unknown.

Following the tradition of Christo, and inspired by installation artist Andy Goldsworthy, Musick and her crew created an art installation that they set up at 22 stops along the route. “Stone Songs on the Trail of Tears: The Journey of an Installation,” just published by the University of Arkansas Press (cloth $24.95), chronicles that journey, with photographs, poetry, maps, journal entries, and introductory essays on art and history.

    It is an eye-catching piece of art featuring five yokes that combines oak, wood, steel, and native Ozark sandstone, designed to represent the struggle of those who took the brutal journey.  Musick and her crew moved the installation to each spot along the Trail of Tears; sometimes using the wagon ruts or other physical remains still present to guide their way. Time was spent in each area, meeting local residents, setting up, photographing, and moving on, as ephemeral as the Cherokee’s journey itself.

    According to Musick, “The project became much more than any of us expected. About the second day the sculpture took on a life of its own, and we viewed it as 'moving’ through the trail sites. Each of us experienced poignant identification with the tragic history of 'the People.’”

     “Stone Songs on the Trail of Tears” is a beautiful and powerful portrayal of the strength, courage, and perseverance of the Cherokee people. It is more than just a book; it has become a documentary piece of history. Donald Harington, noted author and University of Arkansas professor of fine arts, contributes an introductory essay, as do historian Bill Woodiel and Jack Baker, president of the National Trail of Tears Association. Dan Littlefield, president of the Arkansas Trail of Tears Association, says that it behooves us to tell the Trail of Tears story “as truthfully, as accurately and as well as we can - through our literature and our history - and to interpret it as sensitively as we can in our art, as Pat Musick has done.”

Pat Musick’s installations have been shown throughout the United States, particularly in the southeast. She lives in the seclusion and natural beauty of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas with her husband, Jerry Carr, a retired NASA astronaut who commanded the 84-day Skylab IV mission. He photographed the Yokes sculpture at more than 50 sites, from which 22 were selected to be in the book. Bill Woodiel is a historian and former high-school history teacher from Mountain Home and a past vice-president of the Arkansas chapter of the Trail of Tears Association.