It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after The Lost Colony in Manteo in eastern North Carolina and The Ramona Pageant in Southern California.

The play recounts the history of the Cherokee of the Eastern region up to their removal by United States forces in 1838 via the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.

With the help of Joe Jennings, director Samuel Selden chose the EBCI's homeland of Cherokee, North Carolina, as the backdrop for the drama.

Famous alumni of Unto These Hills include Michael Rosenbaum, best known for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville; Adam Richman, host of Travel Channel's Man v. Food; Polly Holliday, of the 1970s sitcom Alice; and actor and former U.S. Representative Ben L. Jones of Georgia, a regular on CBS's The Dukes of Hazzard.

[2] In 2006, the EBCI Tribal Government hired playwright Hanay Geiogamah (Kiowa) to revise the script, the first complete rewrite since the play was instituted.

But many tribal members were reportedly not fond of the new play version, saying that it removed the Cherokee style of story telling and their history in this area.

[citation needed] He is believed to have sacrificed his life in battle to gain approval for the remainder of his Cherokee people to stay in their homeland of North Carolina, at a time of conflict with European Americans.

The Cherokee Nation hired Hunter to write a sequel, The Trail of Tears, covering the period during and after the removal to Indian Territory in what became the state of Oklahoma.