sentences:  Two years after Arkansas received statehood in 1836, thousands of Cherokee people from Georgia passed through Benton County as part of the Trail of Tears route to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.Although no Civil War battles were fought inside Bentonville, the city was occupied by both armies and saw almost all of its buildings burned, either by opposing armies or guerrilla outlaws.Bentonville was a staging point for the Confederate army prior to the Battle of Pea Ridge, fought about northeast of town, and the town saw a brief skirmish just prior to the battle.