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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
No Good Deed = A "No Good" Deed
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
It only takes a small group of like-minded people to do great things. Before many of you were born, a small group of business leaders in north Georgia did a great thing for the Cherokee people. A large swath of land was put up for sale and although they didn't know how sacred the land was, they knew it held great importance to the Cherokees. That land was the site of New Echota, which I consider to be the most historic site in Cherokee history. It is the exact spot where the Cherokee nation split in half and was the start of the Trail of Tears. The group transferred the land to the State of Georgia who officially made it a historic site.
No good deed goes unpunished and it didn't take very long for greed to take hold of people and ruin it. A lady heard about the historic land and so she bought up all of the land around it. Her plan was to sell the land to the state and turn a healthy profit on the deal. What she didn't know is the state by law can't purchase land at an amount greater than the appraised value. When I first heard about the story a decade ago, I called her just to see what it would take to get her to give up the land. I didn't mention the Cherokee sites and told her I wanted to build a home to get away from the busy city of Atlanta. She lowered her asking price to $37,000 an acre, which is ridiculous for the area. I guess she was still trying to make up for her losses. Eventually, the land was turned into a subdivision and there is no telling what Cherokee artifacts were destroyed in the process. The "hidden" New Echota cemetery used to be connected to the historic site of New Echota, but houses have sprung up around it and the two are now separated.
A few days ago, I mentioned how a little Cherokee knowledge exposed several fake psychics. I'm going to save that story for another day, but the secret is connected to the story I just told you about the history of the land.
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II