The trail of tears, also known as the trail where they cried, is the name given to the forced displacement of several Amerindian peoples by the United States between 1831 and 1838. They were forced to settle west of the Mississippi despite the fact that their former lands were forever promised. In 1834, the State of Georgia put the Indian lands up for sale.  Around 1835, two groups formed among the Cherokees. One is led by John Ross, the chief of the Cherokee Nation, who refuses to leave their ancestral land, most Cherokees agreeing with him. Some Indians like Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and his nephew Elias Boudinot think that resistance would be useless.