Sequoyah and Cherokee Nation

On the day we travel to the Cherokee Nation to visit Sequoyah cabin, the weather is beautiful with a slight nip in the air. Sequoyah Cabin Entrance
The first thing one notice is a tiny cemetery located to the right of the park entrance. Buried inside is decedents of the previous owner and the person who purchased the property from Sequoyah's widow. In the 1930s the family turned the lands over to the state of Oklahoma.
As we walk down the paved walkway, it veers to the left where a plaque shows the natural spring used by Sequoyah and used for years by farmers during deep drought, coming from miles to water their stock. The building covering the actual cabin shows a fine historical pictorial. Probably I think, the most interesting artifact is a spinning wheel, given by the former owners ancestors to the park and supposedly made by Sequoyah.

As parks go, this is one of the best maintained, all by a one man operation, who also runs the gift shop. Check it out, if you get the opportunity. You won't be disappointed. Take a picnic lunch, there's tables under shade trees near the National Spring. It's all FREE, but donations are welcome.

RV's towing a vehicle will probably need to unhook in Sallisaw and drive the short distance. The parking lot may not be large enough to turn around inside.
Are you still interested in Sequoyah and the Cherokee? Then read on for a brief history.

Born 1770 in Appalachian region of Tennessee, Sequoyah mother was a "Paint Clan" member of the Cherokee. His father , Nathaniel Gist, was non-Indian and not a part of the family from the time Sequoyah was a young child.
Sequoyah married several times, and had several children.He was a talented blacksmith and silversmith. He moved with his last wife, Sally, to Willis Valley, Alabama where they operated a trading post. Early on he was intrigued with the white men conveying written messages on "talking leaves." In 1809, Sequoyah began initial trials at a written alphabet for the Cherokee Indian language.

Many years later he realized the Cherokee Indian language is made up of a particular number of recurring sounds. With the new information, he was able to create symbols for each sound. In 1821, he completed the Cherokee language syllabify. In short order the teaching caught on and its use spread.
By 1818, Sequoyah operated a salt production and blacksmith works near Russellville, Arkansas. In 1828, he represented the Arkansas Cherokee in Washington to make a treaty to exchange their lands for lands in present day Oklahoma. After this trip to Washington, he and the family moved to a location on Big Skin Bayou Creek in what is now Sequoyah County.

Sequoyah knew from Cherokee lore of a band of Cherokee that moved west before the Revolutionary War. By 1842, he decided to look in the southwest for these Cherokees. In doing so he hoped to convince them to return to Oklahoma. He evidently located the bands in 1843, but became ill during the trip, dying in August of that year near San Fernando, Mexico. Sequoyah's son was with him on the trip and tried to bring his father back to the Cherokee Nation, but was unable to do so. His burial site is unmarked and unknown to this period.

Today his cabin in on beautiful well manicured property owned by the state of Oklahoma. Shortly, after the state took over in 1936, the WPA constructed a building over the cabin to protect it from the elements and for generations to come.

Sequoyah Cabin Route 1, Box 141 Sallisaw,OK 74955 918/775-2413

For directions and map to Sequoyah cabin.


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