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The History of Mantle Rock
and Mandy Falls
Mantle
Rock:
An Emblem of Our Suffering, Endurance,
and Survival
The
Mantle Rock Native Education and Culture Center takes its
name from a natural rock formation in western Kentucky by the
Ohio River where three thousand Cherokees sought shelter while
the river was frozen and impassable in the winter of 1838-1839.
Many of our Elders perished due to exposure,
disease and dysentery during the Removal. Hundreds died, and even
more would have been lost but for the shelter of Mantle Rock.
Thousands of Cherokees come here each
year in prayer for the ancestors, both individually and as part
of the pilgrimage remembering the
"Trail of Tears."
Mantle Rock, listed as a Native American
Historical landmark, is an enduring emblem of our resistance,
survival, spirituality and regathering.
photos
by Ron Tagliapietra,
used by permission of the Natural
Arch and Bridge Society
Historic
Tours, Summer 2004
Mandy
Falls:
A Reminder of Our Destiny to Return
According to local folklore,
Mandy Flanary maintained a nightly vigil beside
a fire, meditating during rain, sleet, or snow. Sometimes
her vigil would last until early morning. No one knows
why Mandy, a Cherokee woman, sat those long hours. It
could have been to mourn the 260 Cherokees who perished
at nearby Mantle Rock during the harsh winter of 1838.
Mandy's
mother reportely escaped the soldiers at the beginning
of the Trail of Tears, married a man named Harper, and
migrated to Louisville, Kentucky. Mandy left Lousiville
at around age fifteen and married Harve Flanary.
They settled close to Mantle Rock, where they raised a
family. Their descendants still live in the area.
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