Baptist Mission

Rev. Jesse Busyhead settled here in 1839 following the Cherokee removal from the east and held church services at his home until the Baptist Mission was established in 1841 by Rev. Evan Jones. This site was one of the ration stations known as GA-DU-HO-GA-DU, or Breadtown, by the Cherokee following the removal. A Cherokee National School was founded near here in 1843 and the mission established a female seminary the same year. The Cherokee Messenger printed here beginning in August 1844 and was the first periodical in Oklahoma. The mission station was burned during the Civil War by the Confederates because of the anti-slavery teaching of the missionaries. While the mission never rebuilt, the church has continued to meet. The present church building was built in 1888. - Oklahoma Historical Society, 62-1995