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Chief Ladiga TrailChief Ladiga

The Bicentennial  ·  Northeast Alabama

2032

200 Years

Years Remaining

6

2026 →  2032

On March 24, 2032, it will have been 200 years since Chief Ladiga signed the Treaty of Cusseta. Two hundred years since the Creek Nation ceded this land to the United States government. Two hundred years since the beginning of a chain of events that ended with a trail named for him and his grave unmarked at its far end.

That anniversary deserves to be marked. Not as a celebration of the trail — the trail’s story is more complicated than that — but as an honest reckoning with what happened on this land, and who was here first.

What We’re Working Toward

A Reckoning, Not a Celebration

The goal of this campaign is not to produce a festival or a ribbon-cutting. It is to ensure that by 2032, the people who walk the Chief Ladiga Trail know whose land they are walking on, what happened to him, and what the trail’s name actually means.

What that looks like in practice is still being determined. Interpretive markers along the route. A documented public history. A conversation with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation about what acknowledgment means to them. Partnerships with local institutions that are willing to tell this story plainly.

Six years is enough time to do this carefully. We intend to use it.

Partnerships

Who We’re Talking To

Conversations are beginning with several institutions. Nothing is confirmed. We are seeking partners who are willing to engage with this history honestly.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation

The descendants of the people removed from this land are the most important voice in this conversation. We are in early stages of outreach. Any acknowledgment of this history on the trail should be shaped by and with the Creek Nation — not about them, without them.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

The organization that inducted the Chief Ladiga Trail into its Hall of Fame in 2009. Conversations are beginning about what a bicentennial partnership could look like.

City of Anniston · Calhoun County Institutions

The municipalities and institutions along the trail corridor — including Jacksonville State University, which sits on land that was once Ladiga's personal allotment. We are seeking conversations about how local institutions can participate in an honest telling of this history.

What You Can Do Now

Six Years Is Time to Get It Right

The work of 2032 begins now — in the documentation, the outreach, the relationships. If you are a descendant, a historian, a trail advocate, or someone who simply wants to see this history told plainly, there is a place for you in this.

Share this site. Tell people who walk the trail what they’re walking on. Come back as the campaign grows. And if you have something to contribute, reach out.

Contact

matt@chiefladiga.org