Step into Reading Step 5: Ready for Chapters (grades 2-4) The Trail of Tears (a history reader) October 1, 1838 - John Ross, the chief of the great Cherokee Nation, is looking at his home for the last time. All around him, people are loading wagons for the long jouney west. The Cherokee people do not want to leave their land, but they have no choice. Today is their first day on the Trail of Tears.