Historical Marker Program

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.