Thomas Mitchell Buffington was born October 15, 1855, in Going Snake District of the Cherokee Nation,

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 ...

, now in Adair County, Oklahoma. His parents were Ezekiel Buffington, who was born in Georgia in 1807 and settled in Oklahoma Territory in 1835 as part of the Cherokee diaspora. His mother was Louisa (Newman) Buffington, who was born in Tennessee in 1817 and died in 1898. Buffington was one of eight children. Buffington married Susie Woodall in 1878 (b.1857-d.1891); she was a school teacher. Four years after his first wife's death, he married E. Gray, a teacher in the Cherokee schools. Thomas Buffington became active in Cherokee politics and aligned himself with the Downing party. In 1889 he was elected district judge for the Delaware district, but resigned in order to serve as senator, for which he was elected in 1891. He served as temporary Principal Chief of the

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 ...

from the 14th to the 23rd of December, 1891, upon the deaths of the Principal Chief Joel B. Mayes and the Second Chief Henry Chambers, as he had right of succession, being president of the Senate. He was appointed as a delegate to Washington, D.C. to represent the Cherokee Nation before the United States Congress. There he supported passage of the

Curtis Act of 1898 The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasaw ...

, which weakened tribal governments, brought all persons in the territory under federal law, and facilitated land allotments. He later served as mayor of Vinita. In 1899 he resigned as mayor and ran for the office of Principal Chief and won, serving until 1903. After serving as Principal Chief for the second time, Buffington served as mayor of Vinita till 1917. He died in Vinita, Oklahoma on February 11, 1938. ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', Volume 17, No. 2, June, 1939, ''Chief Thomas Mitchell Buffington and Chief William Charles Rogers'', by John Bartlett Meserv

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References

1855 births 1938 deaths Cherokee Nation politicians (1794–1907) Cherokee Nation mayors in Oklahoma Mayors of places in Oklahoma Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) 20th-century Native Americans {{Oklahoma-mayor-stub