Our Arklahoma Heritage: "Adopted" member of Delaware tribe battled policies that affected Native Americans

Lee B. Smith was born in 1844 in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, now Delaware County.

A descendant of the Delaware (Lenape) people who allied with the Cherokee in the early 1800s, Smith grew up in a community shaped by forced relocations and hardship.

The Delaware had settled in the area around 1820, fleeing eastern U.S. pressures and forming bonds with the Cherokee through trade, marriage, and mutual defense against Osage raids and encroaching settlers.

Delaware County, named for these early Lenape settlers, was formalized in 1907 upon Oklahoma’s statehood

.Limited records obscure details of Smith’s parents, but they were part of the Delaware community integrated into the Cherokee Nation under the 1867 treaty.

Raised on a farm near Eucha, Smith learned Lenape agricultural practices alongside Cherokee traditions, attending mission schools where he became fluent in English and Cherokee. These skills later proved essential in his political career.

In the 1880s, Smith was elected to the Cherokee Nation Council in Tahlequah, representing the Delaware District. The council managed tribal affairs, including education, infrastructure, and land protection. Smith opposed the Dawes Act of 1887, which allotted communal tribal lands to individuals, weakening Native sovereignty.

He debated against land speculators, known as “boomers,” and reviewed enrollment applications to protect tribal members’ rights. The Curtis Act of 1898 further eroded tribal governance, dissolving courts and pushing for allotment, a policy Smith resisted in committee discussions.

Smith married a woman from the Cherokee-Delaware community, whose name is not fully documented but likely tied to 1867 treaty families. They raised at least three children on their Eucha farm: a son who served as a council clerk and two daughters who married into local Cherokee families.

Enrolled on the Dawes Rolls (1898–1907) as “Adopted Delaware” or “Delaware by Blood,” the family maintained a rural life, growing crops, raising livestock, and participating in stomp dances.

Their allotted lands were later impacted by the 1940 construction of Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees, which submerged parts of Eucha.

Oklahoma’s statehood on November 16, 1907, ended tribal governments and thrust Native leaders into state politics. Smith was elected Delaware County’s first state representative to the Oklahoma House for the 1907–1908 session, held in Guthrie’s City Hall.

As a Democrat, he focused on protecting Native allotments from fraud and taxation. He sponsored bills to exempt tribal lands from state taxes and opposed measures allowing non-Native claims on surplus lands, citing the 1866 Reconstruction Treaty in a 1908 debate. His efforts earned him respect among Native delegates, though the broader loss of tribal authority persisted

.After one term, Smith returned to Eucha in 1909, farming and advising on post-allotment land disputes through informal community committees.

He died in 1917 at age 73y from pneumonia, which was common in Native tribes in rural Oklahoma. The Grove Sun obituary praised him as a dedicated public servant.

He was buried in Balls Chapel Cemetery near Eucha, a small hillside plot now near Grand Lake on provate property..

"Adopted" D

His granite marker reads: “Lee B. Smith, 1844–1917, Adopted Son of the Cherokee.”

His wife and children’s graves form a family cluster, maintained by descendants and the Cherokee Nation

.Smith’s significance lies in his role as one of the few Native leaders to transition from tribal to state governance. His work delayed some allotment-related losses, preserving land for Delaware County families. His advocacy on the Dawes Rolls and tax exemptions set a precedent for later Native rights efforts.

Smith’s resistance to allotment foreshadows modern Cherokee victories, like the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling affirming reservation boundaries. Enrollment disputes over “adopted” status, like those affecting Smith’s family, persist in today’s tribal citizenship debates, as seen in Cherokee Nation policies under leaders like Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.