Summer of 19 - #20 - Cherokee Museum & Creatures around the home!!!

Thursday 12th September, 2019 
We've had an assortment of things going on over the last few days.  About a week ago, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, while I was drinking my coffee.  I knew it was probably a mouse, but it could have been a lizard as well, as it was so quick.  I was still half asleep as well.  When Bryan got up I told him, but I think he thought I'd imagined it.  There were no signs of mouse droppings anywhere, and we didn't see or hear anything else.
Well today Bryan saw the mouse sitting on the basket next to his chair.  Of course as soon as he saw it, it disappeared. We went and bought mousetraps. I don't remember ever having to deal with mice before, but I think living in a motorhome it's probably inevitable, and I'm surprised we haven't had problems before.

Friday 13th September, 2019
We got up and looked in the traps. Hmmm, all the peanut butter and cheese had gone but the trap hadn't gone off.  We've got an intelligent mouse here.  We filled the traps again, and placed them at a different angle.  Bingo, we heard the trap go off and sure enough we got a mouse.  I felt a bit bad, but we can't have a mouse running around, and I would worry it would escape out of the catch em alive traps as we were transporting it to set it free.  Although part of me would like to take it, and let it go in the forest by a waterfall. We loaded the traps again and put them out.  We want to make sure there's no more.

Saturday 14th September 2019
Well, the peanut butter and cheese has gone again, so we have more!!!

Sunday 15th September, 2019
Bryan went out to open the valve on the water drain as I was doing laundry, and as he walked around the back of the motorhome he saw a grass snake slither away.  What else, maybe he's eaten the mouse???  Nope, the peanut butter and cheese have gone again, and the trap hasn't gone off.  Sneaky, sneaky mouse.  We're going to have to figure something else out.  We haven't seen these mice though, since Bryan saw the one sitting on the basket. I don't know how they're getting to the traps without us seeing them.  I know they're sneaky and quick, but they have to get from one side of the room to the other, and this place isn't that big.  I'm kind of glad that I haven't seen them though.
Don't worry, tomorrow we will go out and they'll be pictures of our travels again!!!

Monday 16th September, 2019 - Part 1 of 2
Today we decided to go to the town of Cherokee.  We have driven through it a few times this trip, and it is lovely small town that is the headquarters to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation.  To continue the heritage of the Cherokee Indians, a lot of the signs in the town have both Cherokee and English on them.

We went to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.  This LINK gives a good overall view of the museum and it's contents.

We paid our entrance fee and started the self guided tour.  There was a lot of information to read while we waited for the next film session and you couldn't bypass this, so there wasn't any option but to wait.  It wasn't a long wait though, and it controls the number of people going through sections of the museum, to a certain extent.

We were greeted with a mock fire, and a screen that showed a film giving a history of the Cherokees.

After the film finished, the exit doors opened and we were in the museum.  The rest of the tour was self guided and you could go at your own pace.  The whole museum and displays were ultra modern. 

The Story of the Cherokee exhibit has won awards.

This sign caught Bryan's eye as it mentions Spiro, Oklahoma.  He has Cherokee in his ancestry, through his mothers side, and from Oklahoma.  

Another exhibit related to the Emissaries of Peace.  These figures were very lifelike and the eyes, especially the one in the middle, seemed to follow you wherever you went!!!  

In 1762, Henry Timberlake took Cherokee leaders to London, to meet with King George III.  The visit confirmed that the Cherokees were at peace with Great Britain.  The general public was curious about them and flocked to see them during their six week stay.

In 1763, a Proclamation was issued by the King promising that there would be no more white settlements in the Appalachian Mountains and all points west.  Unfortunately, there was no way to enforce the law.

The Cherokees thought they were safe after the proclamation, but then came the American Revolution.

I found this article about the Cherokee History which breaks it down concisely I think.

During the early 1800's the major tribes were removed from their homelands and sent West.  A lot died as a result of the relocation.

There were posters honoring and telling you about the five major tribes.

The Trail of Tears exhibit shows the Indians after they were forced to leave their homeland and head west.  They had to walk more than a thousand miles to "Indian Territory", which is now Oklahoma.  The pictures below depict "The Trail of Tears"

William Holland Thomas became the only white man to become Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  He represented them in Washington DC, and during the Civil War he led a group of Cherokee Indians to fight for the Confederates.

There were many interesting displays.

It was an interesting visit and I learnt a lot.  

We had a walk around some stores in town but didn't find anything we had to have.  It was still early and so we decided to go and look at the Farm Museum at the Visitor Centre which was just up the road.  I will tell you all about that in the next blog.  Believe me, it was one of the best decisions of the day!!!!