Tahlonteeskee, Oklahoma (Cherokee variant: ''Tahlontuskey'') was the first capital city of the early western

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

. It was named for Tahlonteeskee, who was the third Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation -West (1817–1819). Today, the area of the settlement is an abandoned, barren site on private land in Sequoyah County.

History

The area in which Tahlonteeskee was located was part of the 1816

Lovely's Purchase Lovely's Purchase (also Lovely's Donation), was part of the early nineteenth century Missouri and Arkansaw territories. It was created in 1817, in order to give a haven to the Cherokee and other Native Americans who were steadily leaving the ...

.''Sequoyah County''
Oklahoma Historical Society online; accessed April 2018 The town itself was founded in 1828, near the mouth of the Illinois River, and became the capital of the Cherokee "''

Old Settlers Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

''" living in the Cherokee Nation–West.''Gore, Oklahoma: Tahlonteeskee - Oldest Capital in Oklahoma''
webpage; Leisure and Sports Review; accessed November 2015''Tahlonteeskee''
photo of roadside marker klahoma Historical Society at waymarking.com; accessed November 2015. Chief

John Jolly John Jolly (Cherokee: ''Ahuludegi''; also known as ''Oolooteka''), was a leader of the Cherokee in Tennessee, the Arkansas Territory, and the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. After 1818, he was the Principal Chief and after reorganization of the t ...

, brother of Tahlonteeskee, posthumously named the town in his honor. The Christian Dwight Mission was re-located there with the early nineteenth century migration west of the Cherokee people. Tahlonteeskee continued as the western

Cherokee people The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

s' capital from 1828 through 1839, when new arrivals from 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, ...

flooded the area. At that time, Takatoka briefly became capital before the transition of the council seat to

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...

was finished—upon completion of the construction of the new capitol building—and the seat of the government permanently moved away. Tahlonteeskee continued for years as a council meeting place for Old Settlers in order to settle differences between differing tribal factions. Tahlonteeskee was the oldest governmental capital in Oklahoma, but is today a barren site on private land near

Gore, Oklahoma Gore is a town in western Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 977 at the 2010 census, an increase of 15 percent over the figure of 850 recorde ...

References

External links

''Photo of Reconstructed Courthouse and Historical Marker''
{{coord missing, Oklahoma Historic sites in Oklahoma Cherokee towns in Oklahoma Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) Populated places established in 1827 Geography of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma 1827 establishments in Indian Territory

History

See also

References

External links