This album contains 170 photographic prints taken by Frank Churchill between 1899 and 1900 and later compiled by Clara Churchill. Most of the photographs were taken in Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) with many shot in and around Muskogee where Churchill was living during his time as a revenue collector to the Cherokee Nation. There are also images from Kansas and Arkansas. The photographs are not arranged in chronological order (see the chronology for a timeline). Locations (Indian Territory unless otherwise indicated) represented in this album include—Vinita, Muskogee, Tahlequah, Fort Gibson, Fort Smith (AR), Wagoner, Caney (KS), Claremore, Chelsea, Coffeyville (KS), Fairland, Dawson.
Photographs most likely taken in and around Muskogee include—1899 horse races with Feers, Porter, Spalding and Severs; US Judge W.T. Hutchings; Mrs. Shoenfelt, Miss Feers and Miss Oppenheimer; The Rullison House and Mrs. Tipton (landlady); Muskogee jail, prisoners and freight depot; Gus Lubbes (jailor) with guards and Nancy Brown; various houses and buildings; Col. Dew M. Wisdom; the circus; Indian University, Bacone College; Dr. Fite and A.P. McKellop. Other photographs of note include—Cherokee policeman, John C. West; Cherokee Chief T.M. Buffington, Cherokee Police Captain J.W. Ellis, J. Fentress Wisdom (clerk) and Murchison in Tahlequah; City Marshall "Bud" Ledbetter in Vinita; J.C. Early and his family in Darwin; and Pecan Mission (Muskogee Creek). Additional views in Indian Territory include—cotton fields, farms, tenements, an unknown Indian School, the Arkansas and Grand Rivers and the boundary post of the Cherokee and Creek Nations.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frank C. and Clara G. Churchill collection, NMAI.AC.058, National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
