Before the Trail of Tears removed the Cherokee from this area, there was the Brainerd Mission in what is now Chattanooga. The mission was founded in 1816 by Christian missionaries - at the request of Cherokee leaders. Today, only the Brainerd Mission Cemetery remains. Naturalist Robert Sparks Walker told the story in his book “Torchlights to the Cherokees.” And on Thursday night in Collegedale, the story will be told on stage in a concert production of “The Trail Was A Circle” - a play written