Tahlonteeskee (or "Talotisky",Tale'danigi'ski (c. 1760 - c. 1819) was a Cherokee headman of Cayuga town, eventually rising toPrincipal Chief of the firstCherokee Nation. He was one of the "Old Settlers" of the Cherokee Nation—West, and the namesake of the first capital city of the Cherokee inIndian Territory.
Tahlonteeskee was the older brother (or possibly a half-brother) ofJohn Jolly. He married Jennie Lowrey, sister of ChiefGeorge Lowrey.[1][a]
As nephews of theFirst Beloved Man of the Overhill Cherokee, theOld Tassel, both Tahlonteeskee andJohn Watts (or 'Young Tassel') accompaniedYoung Dragging Canoe[b] when he was invited to the Spanish port ofPensacola to parlay with the governor ofSpanish Florida, Oneal. This meeting was for the purpose of gaining Spanish supplied arms and ammunition in order to better fight the encroachment on their lands by frontiersman from the expanding United States. They returned to the Chickamauga head-town and Watts' center of operations,Willstown, with ten pack-mules loaded with war supplies. With these arms in hand, Watts called the chiefs together to plan a war of extinction against theOvermountain towns of Tennessee.[1]
Although originally planning to take part in the late September 1792 raids into theMero District of Central Tennessee, Tahlonteeskee's raiding party was sent east—into theWashington District instead. He thus avoided the route suffered by Watts' combined Cherokee, Creek, and Shawnee force atBuchanan's Station outsideNashboro.[2][1]
According to the Cherokee genealogist, Dr. Emmet Starr, the alternative spelling of his name, "Talotisky" or "Talotiskee" was possibly an alliterative spelling of Tahlonteeskee (since at that time there was not yet a uniform system of writing Cherokee sounds into English).[1][c]
At the time of the establishment of the original Cherokee Nation, Tahlonteeskee was aCherokee headman of Cayuga town (or Cayoka), on Hiawassee Island (in modern-dayHamilton County, Tennessee). Following the decision he and ChiefDoublehead made to sign over large parcels of traditionalCherokee hunting grounds to the United States in 1805, they found themselves considered by many Cherokee to be traitors.[3] After Doublehead was assassinated in 1807 for his part in the land transfer, Tahlonteeskee emigrated into the west (in 1809), and became one of the first of the "Old Settlers" of the new Cherokee Nation—West then being established in theArkansas Territory.
Tahlonteeskee became the thirdPrincipal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West in 1817 (succeedingTakatoka), and served until his death in 1819, when he in turn was succeeded by his brother,John Jolly (Oolooteka).[3] Tahlonteeskee was the first western chief to allow Christianity to be taught to the Cherokee, and permitted missionaries to establish the original Dwight Mission in the Nation's western holdings known asLovely's Purchase in the Arkansas territory, before theFederal Government forced the Old Settlers even further west, into the area of the futureIndian Territory.[3][1]
Tahlonteeskee, Oklahoma, the first capital city of the early Western Cherokee Nation, was named for him.[3] The town acted in that capacity from 1828 through 1839, when the new capitol building was completed inTahlequah, Oklahoma, and the seat of government moved there. Tahlonteeskee was the oldest governmental capital established in Oklahoma.[4]
| Preceded by | Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation–West 1817–1819 | Succeeded by |