Coweta, Oklahoma
Coweta is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States, a suburb of Tulsa. As of 2010, its population was 9,943. Part of the Creek Nation in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a U.S. state, the town was first settled in 1840.National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. The mission was started in 1843 by Presbyterian minister
Robert Loughridge
Robert McGill Loughridge (December 24, 1809 – July 8, 1900) was an American Presbyterian missionary who served among the Creek in Indian Territory. He attended Miami University, Ohio, and graduated in 1837. Loughridge was ordained as a Pres ...
at
Coweta
Coweta is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States, a suburb of Tulsa. As of 2010, its population was 9,943. Part of the Creek Nation in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a U.S. state, the town was first settled in 1840. The school operated until the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, when Loughridge and most missionaries left the territory.
History
For a time the Creek people had resisted Protestant religious missions and their related schools, outlawing
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and preaching because it disrupted their traditional culture. But in 1842, Robert Loughridge, a Presbyterian missionary, had traveled to Coweta to meet with the Creek Council, who gave him permission to open a mission, because the Creek wanted to have their children educated. Loughridge made the school dependent on the mission.
Rev. Loughridge later wrote to the US Indian agent for the Creek, Colonel James Logan, describing the beginning of his work with the Creek people:
"Although the old chief at first had a manifested some fears of our religious influence interfering with their old customs, yet he gave us a cordial welcome, and requested me to locate the mission in his town. This I did and called the station Koweta, after the name of his home town. It was situated about 24 miles northwest of Fort Gibson, and one and one-half miles east of the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
. There was on the place selected a vacant Indian cabin 14x24 feet, with a dirt floor and covered with clapboards. Connected with it was a small unfenced field and a few fruit trees. For the whole premises, I paid the owner ten
dollars
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
. As planks could not be hauled a great distance, I had hired some men to split out 'luncheons' and floor the house. In this little cabin we lived happily for more than a year, and in this cabin our first child was born. As by agreement I could only preach at the Mission station. My first object was to build a log house to answer the double purpose of school and church. As soon therefore as it was ready for use, my wife commenced teaching a school of fifteen or twenty children, and the neighbors were invited to attendance at the Mission, while the most of them were devotedly attached to their old customs and superstitions. The outlook was very discouraging."
The school operated for about 3 months until sickness and a lack of adequate accommodations resulted in Loughridge temporarily closing it. After a while, more Creek began attending Loughridge's services.
His wife Olivia gave birth to their second child on September 5, 1845. But the nearest physician lived in
Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any othe ...
and was not in the area. Olivia developed
puerperal fever
Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ab ...
on September 17, and died at the age of twenty-nine. One year later, on September 26, 1846, that second child also died; it was buried next to Olivia Loughridge, in what is known as the Bruner Family Cemetery. This was on the Hopping Farm, a mile and a half southeast of Coweta. Today the site is marked only by a cemetery.
Creek officials granted Loughridge permission to build a second school, which he called Tullahassee Mission. Completed in 1859, it was located 16 miles east of Koweta Mission and 10 miles west of Fort Gibson. Another missionary couple, the Rev. and Mrs. William Robertson, operated this
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
broke out, the Presbyterians abandoned the Koweta Mission and left the Territory, as did other missionaries. It was burned during the war. During the war years, most missionaries abandoned the schools and churches they had started among the tribes, but many children had received some education. With the war, most of the ministers and teachers left
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
for the duration of the conflict.
The Creek developed a tribal school system funded from federal annuities paid following their removal to Indian Territory. In the later nineteenth century, the Creek Nation encouraged the founding of more schools: Wealaka Mission School (1882), which replaced Tullahassee; Asbury Manual Labor School,
Harrell Institute Harrell can refer to:
* Harrell (name), given name and surname
* Harrell, Alabama, United States
* Harrell, Arkansas, United States
See also
*Harrells, North Carolina, United States
*Harrel, surname
{{disambiguation ...
(1881),
Bacone College
Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, is a private tribal college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now Americ ...
(1885),
Levering Mission
Levering Mission (also known as Wetumka Boarding School; Creek National Boarding School) is a historic mission school and hospital founded by the Creek Nation in what is now Wetumka, Oklahoma.
It was built in 1880 with the partnership of the Cre ...
,
Nuyaka Mission
The Nuyaka Mission site is located in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, on McKeown Rd. (aka E0945 Rd) just off N 120 Rd (aka N3850 Rd), approximately 15.7 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Route 75 and Oklahoma State Highway 56, State Highway 56 (aka ...
, and
Yuchi Mission
The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma.
In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, ...
. In this period, they had a total of 7 boarding schools for Indian children, 3 boarding schools for Creek Freedmen, and 65 day schools.