Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-27
FAMOUS OLD INDIAN INN
Where Cherokee Politicians for Years
Met and Plotted.

From the Kansas city Journal,
The Oldest hotel In Indian Territory. the
National. at Tahlequah, Will entertain the
councillors of the Cherokee nation this fall
for the last time and will cease to be the
II ndezvous for politicians of the once proud
and powerful Cherokee people. For over
sixty years the venerable hosiery has been
receiving guests.
For that period 1t has also sheltered
nearly all the chiefs of the Cherokee nation
and the members of the Indian council.
About its ireplaces many deep-laid plot
of state has been perfected and many OF
tn, bills now Incorporated into the laws OF
the Cherokees were drawn up in the low
ceilinged rooms of the old hotel.
For years Tahlequah was designated in
the Biographies as the capital Of Indian
Territory although in reality 1t was never
more than the capital of the Cherokee ma
ton. So superior were the Cherokees. how
ever, to the other tribes in the science of
political manipulation that they exercised
y great influence over the politicians of the
other nations and thus indirectly became
the center of the government in the terri
tory. 1t was in the old National Hotel that
the political prowess of the Cherokees was
fostered.
The National was built in 1874 by Aunt
Susie Taylor. wife of Dick Taylor. we'll
known Cherokee. 1t was opened immedt-
atcly as a tavern, as hotels were called in
those days. and soon became the popular
stopping place OF all. leading men in the
Indian Territory. The hotel stands just
north of the square in which the national
capitol building of the Cherokees is located
and hence has always been the logical
place for Cherokee lawmakers to stop.
During the period of the civil war all
business enterprises were practically sus-
pended in Tahlequah and consequently the
Old tavern, which had been running six
teen years. was closed. 1t became the ar
senal for the confederate soldiers who had
possession Of the town. Every room OF
the building was stacked full of arms ana
ammunition. These supplies were after
ward captured by the northern troops. and
the hotel became an arsenal for the fed
eral troops until the close of the war
After the the National was again
opened hotel. and Mis-. Elizabeth AL
berty. generally known all over the terri
tory Aunt Eliza. took charge of the
place She Is a native Cherokee, and be-
fore the war graduated from the National
Female Seminary of the Cherokees In the
class OF 1857 and later taught In the Chero-
kee Male Seminary. She did more than
any other person perhaps to foster these
two institutions which have been the pride
of the Cherokees for over half cen
fury Aunt Eliza has adopted so many
Cherokee girls and given them an education
in these institutions that she cannot re-
member the number. Although well along
toward the seventies Aunt Eliza is still
running the hotel and Is as fun of vim as
She was a score of years ago
II slept in this room In 1857, again in
1Ss3. and tonight / find myself resting be-
fore the same fireplace" said a guest of
thu hotel the other day, land the room
looks just like IL did when l first stopped
in It,"
In that very room Chief Lewis Downing
founder of the Downing party. and one OF
the most famous executives of the Chero-
KEGS died In the same room Senators
Plat, Teller. Stewart and many other men
OF national renown found shelter while in
the Indian country. bent on business or
pleasure. During the great deadlock In
1856 between the National and Downing
parties federal authorities called Chief
Mayes and the counselors of the Cherokees
together in the parlor OF the National Ho-
tel and gave them until O'Clock of the
next day to settle their difficulties.