Jesse Bushyhead

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The Reverend Jesse Bushyhead (1804-1844) was a Cherokee religious and political leader.^[1]He was born in southeastern Tennessee. As young man he was ordained a Baptist minister. A member of the John Ross faction of the Cherokees, he was dispatched by Ross in 1837 on a mission to the Seminoles. Although he opposed the policy of removal to the west, he accepted the inevitable and led a party of about 1000 people on the Trail of Tears. On his arrival in 1839 near present-day Westville, Oklahoma he established the Baptist Mission, which marked the end of the Trail of tears. He became chief justice of the Cherokee nation in 1840 and remained in that office until his death.

Jesse Bushyhead's grave at the Baptist Mission Cemetery is marked by a fifteen foot tall marble monument. His grave is the only surviving property associated with his life, and as such is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] References

• Chronicle of Oklahoma, volume 13, p. 351 note 3
• Oklahoma State Historical Preservation Office page on Jesse Bushyhead grave