History


History of the Bacone House
Home of the Center for Tribal Studies

The origin of the Bacone House can be traced to Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island and the first missionary to the Indian people on the eastern coast of the United States. Williams believed each person should be able to read the Word of God directly from the Bible and established the practice of combining education and religion as an essential element in Christian training for Indian people.

One of the first groups of Cherokee Indians to make the journey over the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory was led by Reverend Jesse Bushyhead and an assistant, Reverend Evan Jones. They ended their journey four miles northwest of Westville in 1839 and erected a church, which still stands today. They also established a school for the Cherokee which flourished.

In 1869, Reverend John B. Jones, son of Evan Jones, moved the school to Tahlequah to what is now known as the Bacone House. The house was built in 1867 by the Baptist Home Mission Society and for the next eleven years the house was used as a mission home and women's dormitory. In 1880, Almon C. Bacone founded the first Indian University in the United States, and it was located in this house. Reverend Bacone had moved to Indian Territory to teach at the Cherokee Male Seminary in Tahlequah. Frustrated in his efforts to teach religion at the Male Seminary, Bacone opened the privately-funded Christian school, Indian University, which attracted students from all over Indian Territory. The school opened in February with three students, but by the end of 1880, there were fifty-six enrolled. Indian University offered a wide range of courses from the primary grades through a four-year baccalaureate degree. Five years later Indian University was relocated to Muskogee and later renamed Bacone College.


The Tahlequah site housed the Cherokee Academy elementary and secondary grades until 1908 when it was sold to private owners. Mr. W. B. (William Buffington) Wyly bought the house in 1910 and he and his family lived in it until Mr. Wyly died in 1957. The Wyly family also rented rooms to students and boarders. Sid Wyly, son of W. B., was born in the house in the upstairs southeast room. He has some interesting stories to tell about the house. He said the original stairway was inside the closet and sloped almost straight up to the second floor. In 1917, Sid Wyly's six-year-old brother was in the closet one night with a candle looking for mice and caught some clothing on fire. The stairway, as well as some of the second floor, burned and had to be rebuilt. When his father rebuilt the stairway, he changed it to the present angle. He also changed the slope of the roof. Sid said the same brother, several years later, was sitting on a bed in the downstairs southwest room cleaning an "unloaded" gun. Sid was on the other side of the closed door when a bullet came through the door just above his head. The bullet hit the ceiling and did some damage. Sid enjoyed seeing the restored house and reminiscing about his childhood here. The pen and ink drawing of the Bacone House is displayed courtesy of Mr. Wyly.

In 1958, Mrs. Lillian Cunningham purchased the Wyly House for use as an apartment complex for NSU students. The house remained in her possession until 1979 when James Holderbee purchased it. A century-and-a-half after the first Indians used the house for a school, Dr. Garold D. Holstine, former president of Bacone College, founded Indian University, Inc., a group of citizens who realized the importance of saving a landmark. Simultaneously, President W. Roger Webb and Dr. Don Betz, Vice President of University Relations, began discussing the idea of establishing a center for the heritage of Native Americans.


On July 6, 1976, the Indian University site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.


In 1979, two prominent Tahlequah citizens, Jack Kaufman and Bill Hinds, arranged to purchase it as a holding action until adequate funds became available.

In November of 1982, the historic structure was transferred to the Oklahoma Historical Society who officially deeded the building to Northeastern State University in December of 1987. The Center for Tribal Studies was founded shortly thereafter.

Restoration began under the supervision of Physical Plant Director, Bob Patrick, Jr. The budget for the restoration was just over $30,000. The physical plant provided the labor, and the budget covered the cost of materials. The house had been empty for about 10 years and was mainly inhabited by pigeons and bats. "Before" photos, taken before restoration began, are displayed throughout the house. The house was restored within six months. The only thing original left on the building were the bricks and a few of the glass windows which cast the same shadows as they did over a hundred years ago. The house was restored to be as much like the original as possible with new additions of bathrooms, porches, and gingerbread trim.