The following document is from the Intruders file found in the Cherokee National records. In commemoration of Black History Month, this document provides a unique experience for the man trying to remain in the Cherokee Nation. The document can be found on microcopy CHN 83 in the first folder of intruder files.
Click to view a PDF of Jack Nelson’s application.
Dennis Wolf Bushyhead was born in the Cherokee Nation east in 1826. The eldest son of Rev. Jessie Bushyhead he removed to the Cherokee Nation west in the early 1830s. At the age of 20, he was lured to the gold fields of California where he remained until 1868 upon which he returned to the Cherokee Nation settling at Fort Gibson.
By 1871, he entered the political realm whereby he was elected as Treasurer of the nation. In 1879, Bushyhead was elected Principal Chief and was reelected in 1883.
This proclamation was executed during his second and final term as Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Among the Cherokee National records will be files relative to the Female, Male, and Colored High School. Featured here is a document taken from the Colored High School (as it was designated by the National Council). This report contains a brief record of employee’s for the month of October 1904. It is presumed that all seven listed here were African-American’s working at the school. The files contain mostly receipts for expenditures for the operations of the school. The earliest document dates from 1889 and ceases in 1906. The school was located five miles northwest of Tahlequah on the old Double Spring’s place. Sadly, there are no lists of students contained in the file.
Bill Welge here. One of the disconcerting aspects of looking for Indian ancestors is the lack of census data. The Cherokees began compiling decennial census records beginning in 1880, but prior to that time, census taking was very sporadic.
One way to hopefully locate family members is to search through records other than census materials. As an example, among the court records of the Cherokee Nation there is a list of individuals who were issued certificates for payment for services rendered for the quarter ending December 31st, 1875.* Some 41 men are listed and why they are being paid.
This is just one way to locate family when census records are not available.
* Cherokee National records – Courts document # 532. See microcopy CHN-70.
