Historical Marker Program

Cephas Washburn

Sequoyah County
Location: on grounds of Dwight Mission site, approximately three miles southwest of Marble City
Coordinates: 35.551400, -94.845900
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Dwight Mission Board of Directors and the Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Education; Religion/Philosophy; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Dwight Mission was founded by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions as a school for Cherokees. Originally located in Arkansas, Reverend Cephas Washburn reestablished the mission in Indian Territory in 1829. For four decades, Washburn provided educational leadership among the Cherokees.

Dwight Mission

Sequoyah County
Location: on US-64, approximately four miles southeast of Vian
Coordinates: 35.463700, -94.880680
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Education; Religion/Philosophy; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

First established in 1821 in Arkansas, Reverend Cephas Washburn relocated Dwight Mission to new land in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory in 1829. This marker also acknowledges the site of Nicksville, named for Gen. John Nicks, whose widow, Sarah Perkins Nicks, was the first woman appointed to a US government position in present Oklahoma in 1832.

Entering Indian Territory

Sequoyah County
Location: on US-64 west of Arkansas border at Moffett
Material: Granite
Topics: Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

The first highway in Oklahoma, fifty-six miles from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson, was completed in 1827.

Tahlonteeskee

Sequoyah County
Location: on US-64, two miles east of Gore
Material: Aluminum
Topics: American Indians; Folklife; Indian and Frontier Trade; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

In 1829, the village became the western capital of the Cherokees. Sam Houston often visited the area in trade missions into Indian Territory and was given the name "The Raven" by Cherokee leaders.