Stome Gardens: Samuel Houston Mayes help steer Oklahoma into statehood after serving as Cherokee Principal Chief

Mayes County in Northeast Oklahoma carries the name of Samuel Houston Mayes, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1895 to 1899, whose leadership during a pivotal era shaped the region’s history.

Born May 11, 1845, and passing on December 12, 1927, Mayes’ life spanned the Trail of Tears’ aftermath, the Civil War, and the erosion of Cherokee sovereignty amid U.S. assimilation policies.

His legacy, etched into the county named for him at Oklahoma’s 1907 statehood, reflects a career balancing tribal governance and adaptation to federal pressures

.Mayes was born in Stilwell, Cherokee Nation, to Samuel Mayes Sr., a Scots-Irish trader, and Nancy Adair of the Deer Clan. His father, a friend of Sam Houston, named him in part for the Texas leader who had lived among the Cherokee.

 The family, part of the Treaty Party that signed the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, migrated to Indian Territory in 1838, settling near Pryor Creek. They ran a prosperous ranch with enslaved laborers, raising cattle and horses. 

Samuel attended Cherokee public schools, including Muddy Springs, studying under educator Carrie Bushyhead. At 16, Mayes joined the Confederate Army in 1861, serving as a private in Company K, 2nd Cherokee Mounted Regiment, under Col. Clem Vann.

 The Civil War divided the Cherokee, with Mayes’ family supporting the Confederacy while others, like Chief John Ross, leaned neutral or Union-aligned. Samuel served in supply-line duties and regional skirmishes, including near Cabin Creek, until 1865.

After the war, he returned to ranching, driving Texas longhorns and expanding the family’s Grand River homestead .In 1871, Mayes married Martha Elizabeth Vann, daughter of Cherokee Treasurer David Vann. They had three children--William, Joseph, and Carrie==before Martha’s death in 1907.

He later married Minnie Harrison Ball in 1913.

 His political career began as sheriff of Cooweescoowee District in 1880, followed by a Cherokee Senate term from 1885 to 1891, aligning with the Downing Party alongside his brother, Chief Joel Bryan Mayes.

Elected Principal Chief in 1895, Mayes faced the Dawes Commission’s push to allot communal Cherokee lands into individual parcels, a policy rooted in the 1887 Dawes Act to assimilate Native nations. 

The 1898 Curtis Act further dismantled tribal courts and governance, setting the stage for Oklahoma statehood. 

n 1899, Mayes appointed seven commissioners to negotiate with the Dawes Commission, securing 110-acre allotments per Cherokee household, though Congress delayed ratification until 1902. These efforts preserved some tribal assets but couldn’t halt the influx of white settlers onto surplus lands

.After his term, Mayes operated a ferry near Salina and founded the Mayes Mercantile Company in Pryor in 1906, bolstering the town’s economy.

 When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Mayes County was established, its 684 square miles drawn from Cherokee and Creek territories, honoring his contributions. 

The county’s borders were first proposed at the 1905 Sequoyah Convention, a failed bid for a Native-led state.

Mayes died at his Pryor ranch in 1927, aged 82, and was laid to rest in Fairview Cemetery, where his prominent plot reflects his stature. 

Today, Mayes County, with its 41,000 residents, Grand River Dam, and historic sites, stands as a testament to a leader who steered the Cherokee through an era of profound change, balancing tradition with the demands of a shifting world