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:
“A Cherokee is too smart to put anything in the contribution box of a race that’s robbed him of his birthright.”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)
“All experience teaches that, whenever there is a great national establishment, employing large numbers of officials, the public must be reconciled to support many incompetent men; for such is the favoritism and nepotism always prevailing in the purlieus of these establishments, that some incompetent persons are always admitted, to the exclusion of many of the worthy.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“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)