Adventurous would be an understatement for one of Oklahoma’s oldest cemeteries right in the middle of the Chickasaw Nation’s capital town. South of Main Street, up on the hill in Tishomingo was where it all took place.
On September 29, 2021, Cindy Matheny led the tour through the cemetery and was no less than a wealth of information. Not only did Matheny lead the tour, she is also on the Tishomingo development committee.
Depending on the date of the previous visit, guests may not have been able to see all the improvements to the cemetery. The entry way is quite grand with new pavement, the old chain link fence has been replaced with updated fencing and a chapel has been added.
The walk started right down the middle path and circled around north to south, covering all the sections. The famous names of folks resting in the cemetery are magnificent in the amount as well as the significance of their lives. Included on the notably famous list where: William Henry Davis “Alfalfa Bill” Murray Who was the most famous, most colorful, and most controversial governor Oklahoma has ever had, according to the tour pamphlet.
Alfalfa Bill served as the Chickasaw Nations representative to the Sequoyah Convention in effort to create the State of Sequoyah then later to the Oklahoma constitution. Alfalfa Bill practiced law in Tishomingo until his passing in 1956. A few others included
A few others included Haskell Lucas who was part of the first football team in 1923. Douglas Hancock Cooper Johnston, served as the Chickasaw Nation governor from 1898 to 1902 and 1904 to 1939. Douglass has a long string of accolades but the most notable is having Johnston County named after him.
Nevertheless, the cemetery is unique in that it bears the souls of so many of the great political figureheads from the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations. Most of graves have large memorial placards embossed with pertinent information for all to read.
The walk revealed some quite interesting mysteries. There are headstones from Confederate and Union soldiers of the Civil war and little information as to why both are there remains. Matheny noted that the Confederate headstones have a pointed top and the union head stones are rounded on top. Other than this being a definite difference, the reason is left a mystery.
Matheny has many stories pertaining to a great number of the marked graves but the real mystery is the hundreds of unmarked graves. The oldest grave of record is dated October 26, 1875 bearing the name T.B. Cotton. The youngest found of record are five babies being one day old. The cemetery originated as an Indian burial ground for the Native Americans who camped on Pennington Creek as early as 1832 and quite possibly earlier.
The Tishomingo Cemetery has many partners who support its preservation. The most recognized service is each service person has an American flag on their plot. The Cemetery Association does accept any donation and welcomes any volunteers.
If anybody gets a chance to go and pay their respects or simply take in the history, it will be time well taken.