Chieftains Museum / Major Ridge Home

The Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home tells the story of leading nineteenth century Cherokee statesman and planter Major Ridge and his family, who adopted Euro-American agricultural, business, and cultural practices while maintaining a distinctly Cherokee identity, and seeking to preserve the Cherokee Nation within the United States. Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home is a National Historic Landmark and one of only a few private entities to be certified by the National Park Service as a site on the Trail of Tears. It is located along the banks of the Oostanaula River, where Ridge and his family established and operated a plantation, dry goods store, and ferry. Major Ridge, whose old home Chieftains now occupies, was one of the signers of the Treaty of New Echota, which resulted in the forced relocation of the Cherokee people. A 19th century plantation home, the museum contains exhibits describing Ridge’s life and the history of the Cherokee people.