The Cherokee National Capitol, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was the capitol building of the Cherokee Nation from 1869 to 1907, when Oklahoma became a state.
The Cherokee Nation had set up its government quickly after removal to Indian Territory in 1838. In addition to establishing its courts and council, the Nation built seminaries for both male and female students, as education was highly valued.
The capitol was constructed from 1867-1869 following the American Civil War. The brick building was designed in the late Italianate style by C. W. Goodlander, a style unusual for Oklahoma. Originally it housed the nation's court as well as other offices. The capitol was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Famous quotes containing the words cherokee, national and/or capitol:
“Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The progress
Is permanent like the preordained bulk
Of the First National Bank
Like fish sauce, but agreeable.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“A woman with her two children was captured on the steps of the capitol building, whither she had fled for protection, and this, too, while the stars and stripes floated over it.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)