Historical Marker Program

Chief Left Hand/Jesse Chisholm

Blaine County
Location: at Jessie Chisholm’s gravesite near Left Hand Springs, approximately six miles northeast of Geary
Coordinates: 35.726170, -98.290304
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Indian and Frontier Trade; Religion/Philosophy; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Westward Expansion 1803–1861

This marker commemorates Chief Left Hand and Jesse Chisholm. Chief Left Hand was born in the 1840s near present Fort Supply. This noted warrior and survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre attended the Medicine Lodge conference in 1867, which resulted in the removal of his people to Indian Territory. He became principal chief of the Southern Arapaho in 1889. His allotment included this site, then known as Raven Springs, now Left Hand Springs. Jesse Chisholm was a merchant and trader who established a trail through western Indian Territory before the Civil War. Texas cattlemen used the trail until the late 1880s to move millions of cattle to northern markets. Chisholm died in March 1868. His burial site is near this marker’s location.