Sand Mountain lay in an area that included disputed borders between the Creeks and the Cherokee. Although Alabama became a state in 1819, until the 1830s much of northern Alabama was still officially Cherokee territory. However, white settlement in the area increased steadily, coming to a head with the gold rush in the nearby mountains of northwest Georgia. While gold supplies began to dwindle, soon eclipsed by the California Gold Rush, the settlement by white farmers continued and played prominently in the expulsion of Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw nations from the area. That expulsion is called the Trail of Tears, considered an act of genocide because of the thousands who died on the journey, and the forced removal of native peoples from their home territories. (In nearby Fort Payne, which lies across the valley and at the foot of next-door Lookout Mountain, there is a historical sign marking the town as one of the starting points for the Trail of Tears, and also the area where Sequoyah lived, who developed the Cherokee alphabet.)