Rev. Jesse Bushyhead Grave
Sacred to the memory of Rev. Jesse Bushyhead Born in the old Cherokee nation. Sept. 1804 Died in the present Cherokee Nation July 17, 1844.
On Highway 59, Westville, Oklahoma. Located across the street from the Old Babtist Mission Church built in 1888 and still in use.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Bushyhead, Rev. Jesse, Grave (added 2004 - Site - #04001334)Links:
Also known as Site # 34AD141
OK 59, Westville
- Historic Significance: Person
- Historic Person: Bushyhead, Rev. Jesse
- Significant Year: 1844
- Area of Significance: Native American
- Cultural Affiliation: Cherokee
- Period of Significance: 1825-1849
- Owner: Private
- Historic Function: Funerary
- Historic Sub-function: Cemetery
- Current Function: Funerary
- Current Sub-function: Cemetery
The Reverend Jesse Bushyhead (1804-1844) was a Cherokee religious and political leader.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.
- National Register Properties in Oklahoma - REV JESSE BUSHYHEAD GRAVE