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1901 Map of Tahlequah

Name: 1901 Topographic Map of Tahlequah
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

Tahlequah serves as the focal point of this late-nineteenth-century landscape, a period when it was the established capital of the Cherokee Nation. The map reveals a sophisticated social infrastructure through specialized landmarks such as the Female Seminary and the Cherokee Insane Asylum, as well as religious outposts like the Elm Springs Mission. This was an era of transition, documented just as the Kansas City Pittsburg and Gulf R. R. began to reshape trade through eastern settlements like Stilwell and Westville.

The topography is defined by the winding course of the Illinois River and the Barren Fork, which cut through a complex system of ridges and valleys leading toward the southern Brushy Mountains. Small communities and post offices such as Wauhillau, Moodys, and Cookson are scattered throughout the hills, connected by early roads that followed natural drainages like Walkingstick Hollow and Stillwell Hollow.