The Hunter's Home, formerly known as the George M. Murrell Home, is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

at 19479 E Murrel Rd in Park Hill, near Tahlequah, Oklahoma in the Cherokee Nation. Built in 1845, it is one of the few buildings to survive in Cherokee lands from the antebellum period between the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

relocation of the Cherokee people and 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 ...

. It was a major social center of the elite among the Cherokee in the mid-nineteenth century.Tiya Miles, ''Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom''
University of California Press, 2005, p. 181 It has been owned by the state since 1948, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1974.

History

The mansion was built by George Michael Murrell, a wealthy white planter and merchant married to Minerva Ross, the niece of prominent Cherokee leader John Ross."Murrell Home."
''Cherokee Nation Tourism.'' (retrieved 21 March 2010) He called it Hunter's Home due to his fondness for the fox hunt. The Murrells came to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

about the time of the

(1839). They furnished their house with the latest in fashions. They held 42 enslaved people, whom they housed in nine cabins on the large property. During the

, the area surrounding Hunter's Home was frequently raided by forces loyal to both the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and Confederacy. The home was spared destruction during this turbulent time and was the only local building to survive the conflict. Cherokee Jennie Ross Cobb (1881–1959), one of the earliest Native American photographers, later lived in Hunter's Home and helped direct restoration of the house. The house was declared a

in 1974. The building was acquired by the state in 1948, and is operated by the

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

as a

. It has been furnished reflecting the period 1830s-1860s, including furnishings and artifacts from the Murrell family. The Daniel Cabin is a log cabin on the property; it is used for living history demonstrations of Cherokee life in the 1850s. In 2018 the name was officially changed from Murrell Home to Hunter's Home.

References

External links

*
Hunter's Home
at Oklahoma Historical Society
Hunter's Home
at TravelOK.com, featuring info, photos, and video * {{NRHP in Cherokee County Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Indian Territory in the American Civil War National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma Houses completed in 1845 Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) Historic house museums in Oklahoma Museums in Cherokee County, Oklahoma Historic American Buildings Survey in Oklahoma Oklahoma Historical Society Houses in Cherokee County, Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Cherokee County, Oklahoma

History

See also

References

External links