Tahlequah, Oklahoma

The First Telephone

Here in September, 1885, the first telephone in Oklahoma was connected for service. It was the first telephone in the Mississippi Valley west of St. Louis. The company was organized by a group of Cherokees, namely, D.W. Lipe, L.B. Bell, R.M. Wolfe, J.S. Stapler, J.B. Stapler, and E.D. Hicks.

Cherokee Supreme Court Building

This structure was built in 1845 by James S. Pierce to house the Cherokee National Supreme Court. The supreme and district court both held sessions here for some time. The "Cherokee Advocate" was also printed in this building for several years after the original Advocate building burned. About 1875

Old Cherokee Capitol Building

The Cherokee Council first met in 1839

Monument to John Ross

John Ross 1790-1866

Principal Chief of the Cherokee, 1828 - 1866

Born October 3, 1790 in Turkeytown, Alabama, the son of a one-quarter Cherokee maiden and a Scotsman, John Ross was elected as the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Indians in 1828

Cherokee Heritage Center

The Cherokee Heritage Center, operated by the Cherokee National Historical Society, is located three miles south of Tahlequah, on the original site of the Cherokee Female Seminary. This remote area, covered with dense underbrush, was cleared in the mid-1960