calsfoundation@cals.org
October 31, 1829
Sam Houston received citizenship in the Cherokee Nation after having arrived in Arkansas Territory following his resignation as governor of Tennessee because of the collapse under “mysterious circumstances” of his marriage to eighteen-year-old Eliza Allen. Houston had joined the band of John Jolly, chief of the Cherokee in Arkansas, whom he described as his adopted father. He served as the chief’s representative in negotiations between tribes and is given credit for helping many bands resettle in Arkansas and present-day Oklahoma.