Jackson McCurtain | |
---|---|
Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation | |
In office 1880–1884 | |
Preceded by | Isaac Garvin |
Succeeded by | Edmund McCurtain |
President of the Choctaw Senate | |
In office 1870–1880 | |
Member of the Choctaw Senate from the Moshulatubbee District | |
In office 1866–1880 | |
Constituency | Nvnih Chufvk Kaunti |
Member of the Choctaw National Council from the Moshulatubbee District | |
In office 1859–1861 | |
Constituency | Nvnih Chufvk Kaunti |
Personal details | |
Born | Mississippi,U.S. | March 4,1830
Died | November 14,1885 55) Tuskahoma,Indian Territory | (aged
Citizenship | Choctaw Nation |
Political party | Progressive Party |
Spouse | Jane Austin McCurtain |
Parent |
|
Relatives | Edmund McCurtain (brother) Green McCurtain (brother) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Choctaw Nation Confederate States |
Branch/service | Confederate army |
Years of service | 1861–1865 |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Unit | Confederate First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles First Choctaw Battalion |
Battles/wars | |
Jackson McCurtain (1830-1885) was a Choctaw politician who served as the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1880 until 1884.
Jackson McCurtain was born in Mississippi on March 4, 1830, to Cornelius McCurtain and Mahayia Nelson. He fought in the American Civil War serving as a captain in the Confederate First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles and later as a lieutenant colonel in the First Choctaw Battalion. [1] After the war he was a successful Choctaw farmer and rancher who married Jane Austin McCurtain in 1865. He who served in the Senate of the Choctaw Nation for many years and who served as the president of the senate from 1870 to 1880 when Principal Chief Isaac Garvin died. [2] [3] After Garvin's death, he was appointed principal chief and served in that position until 1884. [4] He died on November 14, 1885, shortly after leaving office. [2] During his tenure he was known as a progressive chief and for building the first permanent capital for the Choctaw Nation. [3] He was succeeded by his brother, Edmund McCurtain. [4]
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are enrolled in four federally recognized tribes: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, and the Yowani Choctaws enrolled under the confederacy of the Caddo Nation. Choctaw descendants are also members of state-recognized tribes.
McCurtain County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,814. Its county seat is Idabel. It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. The name honors an influential Choctaw family who lived in the area. Jackson McCurtain and Edmund McCurtain served in the Confederate Army before their terms as chief, while Green McCurtain was the last chief when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
Garvin is a town in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 256 at the 2010 census, compared to 143 in 2000.
The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty which was carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act. The treaty ceded about 11 million acres (45,000 km2) of the Choctaw Nation in what is now Mississippi in exchange for about 15 million acres (61,000 km2) in the Indian territory, now the state of Oklahoma. The principal Choctaw negotiators were Chief Greenwood LeFlore, Mosholatubbee, and Nittucachee; the U.S. negotiators were Colonel John Coffee and Secretary of War John Eaton.
Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur served as the elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs. A wealthy and regionally influential Choctaw of mixed-race, who belonged to the Choctaw elite due to his mother's rank, LeFlore had many connections in state and federal government. In 1830 LeFlore led other chiefs in signing the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which ceded the remaining Choctaw lands in Mississippi to the US government and agreed to removal to Indian Territory. It also provided that Choctaw who chose to stay in Mississippi would have reserved lands, but the United States government failed to follow through on this provision.
Eagletown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 528 at the 2010 census. Located on Mountain Fork River, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from the Oklahoma-Arkansas border, it was the first permanent Choctaw settlement in the Indian Territory, who called it o̱ssi tamaha ("Eagle"). Eagletown was an important town from 1834 to 1906, and after 1850, served as county seat for the Choctaw Nation's Eagle County. The town name was officially changed to "Eagle Town" in 1850, then changed to the present Eagletown in 1892. When Indian Territory was preparing to unite with Oklahoma Territory to form the new state of Oklahoma in 1906, Eagletown lost its county seat status and became just another unincorporated community in the new McCurtain County.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly 6,952,960 acres, it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding that of eight U.S. states. The seat of government is located in Durant, Oklahoma.
Tuskahoma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, four miles east of Clayton. It was the former seat of the Choctaw Nation government prior to Oklahoma statehood. The population was 102 as of the 2020 United States census.
Mushulatubbee was the chief of the Choctaw Okla Tannap, one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century. When the Principal Chief Greenwood LeFlore stayed in Mississippi at the time of removal, Mushulatubbee was elected as principal chief, leading the tribe to Indian Territory.
Allen Wright was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was very active in the Choctaw government, holding several elected positions. He has been credited with the name Oklahoma for the land that would become the state.
Peter Pitchlynn was a Choctaw military and political leader. A long-time diplomat between his tribe and the federal government, he served as principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864 to 1866 and surrendered to the Union on behalf of the nation at the end of the Civil War.
The Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas—the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. The Trans-Mississippi had the Choctaw Nation. The Western had the Mississippi Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation had been mostly removed west prior to the War, but the Mississippi Choctaw had remained in the east. Both the Choctaw Nation and the Mississippi Choctaw would ultimately side with the Confederate States of America.
Greenwood "Green" McCurtain was a Choctaw statesman and law enforcement officer, and the last elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation, serving a total of four elected two-year terms. After 1906 and dissolution of tribal governments under the Dawes Act prior to Oklahoma's annexation and achieving statehood, McCurtain was appointed as chief by Theodore Roosevelt. He served in that capacity until his death in 1910, and was the last freely-elected Chief of the Choctaws until 1971.
The Choctaw Capitol Building is a historic building built in 1884 that housed the government of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma from 1884 to 1907. The building is located in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, two miles north of the community of Tuskahoma.
The 1972 United States presidential election in Oklahoma was held on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Jane Austin McCurtain was a Choctaw educator and political advisor within the Choctaw Nation, known for her influence on educational and tribal governance throughout her life. Serving as a close advisor to her husband, chief Jackson McCurtain, and later to his successors, she held key roles in Choctaw education, including as superintendent of Jones Academy, and remained active in Choctaw political affairs until her death, serving as custodian of the Choctaw Council House in Tuskahoma.
Cornelius McCurtain (1803-1871) was a Choctaw politician who served as the district chief of the Moshulatubbee District from 1850 to 1854.
Edmund McCurtain was a Choctaw politician who served as the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1884 to 1886.
Gilbert Wesley Dukes was an American and Choctaw politician who served as the Chief of the Choctaw Nation between 1900 and 1902. He was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1910.