The first Chickasaws to arrive in Indian Territory during Removal in the late 1830s could scarcely have imagined the growth and expansive impact the tribe would have as it grew into the 21st century.
Historians often debate whether times make the people, or people make the times. Perhaps arguments can be made for both, but there is no debate about the powerful impact of the Chickasaw leaders who have called Johnston County home.
Johnston County’s namesake is Douglas Johnston, Chickasaw Governor, first elected in 1898 and later appointed by the President, he led the Chickasaw Nation for more than 30 years until his death in 1939.
Current Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby spent much of his youth in Tishomingo, the Chickasaw Nation’s historic capital and the county seat of Johnston County. He graduated from Tishomingo High School in 1964 and attended Murray State College.
Today, Governor Anoatubby is in his 10th consecutive term as the tribe’s chief executive, having begun his career in 1975 as Director of Tribal Health Services, and then as Lt. Governor in 1979. He was first elected governor in 1987.
Overton James, appointed Governor by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, was born in Bromide and raised in Wapanucka in Johnston County. He helped lead the Chickasaw people out from under the control of the federal government into a new era of self-governance. Governor James served in his appointed capacity until 1971 when he was elected to the position. He was the first Chickasaw Governor to be elected since 1904, prior to Oklahoma statehood in 1907. He served until 1987 when he was succeeded by Governor Anoatubby.
Isaac Alberson, principal chief of the Chickasaws (1834-1845), was first elected chief of the Chickasaw District (1841-1846). His home was built in modern-day Colbert and still stands to this day as one of the oldest structures in the Chickasaw Nation.
In 1856, the Chickasaw Nation conducted its first gubernatorial election with Cyrus Harris being elected by popular vote. Harris became the tribe’s first Governor and served five terms (1856-1858, 1860-1862, 1866-1868, 1868-1870 and 1870-1872).
Cyrus Harris was laid to rest in 1888 at the age of 70 in the Old Mill Creek Cemetery, located along Mill Creek near the grist mill he built. Construction of the mill led to the creek’s name being changed from Cherokee Creek to Mill Creek. The cemetery was situated on what is now Penner Ranch. At that time, the remains of Governor Harris’ home, a small log cabin, still stood on the property at the edge of a tree-lined meadow 3 miles west of the present town of Mill Creek.
Robert M. Harris was born on his family’s land just east of Tishomingo in 1850. He was elected to one term as Chickasaw Nation Governor from 1896-1898 and later served as the first president of the Chickasaw Bank.
Montford T. Johnson, the subject of the 2021 movie “Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher,” was born along the Blue River near present-day Connerville just north of Tishomingo in 1843.
Chickasaw Nation Governor Jonas Wolf assumed office in 1882, then served two terms as Governor in 1884-1886 and 1892-1894. He established a farm near Tishomingo and served in
the Chickasaw Nation Legislature until he became Chickasaw Nation Governor. He is buried near Tishomingo.
Chickasaw Nation Governor Palmer Mosely, a Tishomingo resident, was elected twice, in 1894-1896 and 1902-1904. He served as a national interpreter with Governor Wolf in 1884 and later as vice president of the Bank of Tishomingo.
Mary “Te Ata” Thompson Fisher, a 1915 graduate of Tishomingo High School, would go on to become an actress and world-renowned storyteller. In 1990, she was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame.
Chickasaw Hall of Fame member Helen Cole was born in Tishomingo in 1922. She served many years in the Oklahoma Legislature and on the State Ethics Commission (now Oklahoma Ethics Commission). Her son, Tom Cole, is the U.S. representative for Oklahoma’s 4th congressional district and current chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
Charles Blackwell, 2014 Chickasaw Hall of Fame member and former Chickasaw Nation Ambassador, was raised in Tishomingo.
In 1856, the Chickasaw people gathered at Good Spring on Pennington Creek in Tishomingo to draft their own constitution, which provided for a three-branch department of government – executive, legislative and judicial - patterned after the United States Constitution.
Construction on the Chickasaw Capitol Building started under Governor Robert M. Harris in 1898 and was first occupied by Governor Douglas H. Johnston. The granite structure served in its original capacity until Oklahoma became a state in 1907, at which time the Chickasaw Nation was forced to vacate the building, and Johnston County officials used it as the county’s courthouse.
Governor James began the process in the 1960s of reclaiming it, with Governor Anoatubby completing the process in 1992. Today, it is refurbished and serves as a tribal museum and an enduring monument to the “Unconquered and Unconquerable” spirit of the Chickasaw Nation. It also earned the distinction of being included on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1971.
Adjacent to the Chickasaw Capitol Building is the Chickasaw Council House Museum. Preserved inside the museum is the log Council House, in which a Chickasaw committee drafted a constitution, ratified in 1856, formally developing and defining an independent Chickasaw government.
Bryan County
Johnston County’s neighbor to the southeast is Bryan County.
General Zachary Taylor, later America’s 12th President, selected the site for Fort Washita in Bryan County in 1842. The Oklahoma Historical Society acquired Fort Washita in 1962 and restored it as a historic site and museum. The Chickasaw Nation purchased the fort from the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2017 and assumed responsibility and management of the fort. It is now a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In August 2023, Fort Washita was placed in trust for the Chickasaw Nation.
Another significant historic military installation, sat near Nail’s Crossing on the Blue River in Bryan County in the vicinity of Kenefic, was Fort McCulloch. At one time, this fort established by Albert Pike, housed as many as 1,000 First American troops.
Bryan County has also had its fair share of Chickasaw figures, including Chickasaw Nation Governor Floyd Maytubby, born in Caddo, Indian Territory. He was appointed Governor by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and served from 1939 to 1963.
Chickasaw Nation Governor-Elect Peter Maytubby (1837-1907) assisted Chickasaws in enrolling with the Dawes Commission. He lived at Maytubby Springs Hotel near Caddo, now part of Caddo Ranch in Bryan County.
Holmes Colbert (1829-1872) died in Washington, D.C. while serving as a delegate representing the Chickasaw Nation. He was one of the writers of the original Chickasaw Nation Constitution. He is buried in Bloomfield Cemetery.
Jackson Kemp (1818-1897) was a Chickasaw interpreter, served as President of the Chickasaw Constitutional Convention in 1856 and served as Governor of the tribe after assuming the office in 1860. He is buried in Caddo, Bryan County.
Colbert, Oklahoma, in Bryan County is named in honor of Benjamin Franklin Colbert, grandson of Levi Colbert. After receiving permission from the tribe, he operated a ferry across the river which eventually carried stagecoaches and other passengers at no cost. The site near Colbert is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bryan County is named for Williams Jennings Bryan, a contributor to the 1907 Oklahoma Constitution. One of its more famous residents was Gene Autry, the singing cowboy of past cinematic fame.