Jesse Smoke is a Cherokee boy who, along with his people, is forced to abandon his home and head west. Jesse's story reveals the heartbreak and despair of the Cherokee people as they leave the land of their ancestors and start anew with nothing more than a willingness to survive. Tragedy and hardship plaque Jesse and his people but together they endure the never-ending Trail of Tears.

		October 15, 1838 Rode back and forth all day to see progress of other detachments ahead and behind. Just as in our party, they find it hard to rouse the people each morning from their blankets. It sometimes takes all of the morning to get everyone upon the trail again, moving forward in a slow shuffle. People turn and look back at our mountains with tears in their eyes. Each day at least one person does not rise from their blankets and a grave must be dug by the roadside.