Gallery: Cabin Creek & Operations in Indian Territory
William P. Adair
William Penn Adair was born April 15, 1830, in the old Cherokee Nation in New Echota, Georgia. He attended Cherokee schools and studied law.
During the Civil War he served in the Confederate army with the 1st Regiment Cherokee Mounted Volunteers under General Stand Watie. He rose to the rank of colonel and organized the 2nd Cherokee Mounted Volunteers.
After the war Adair went on to serve the Cherokee Nation in many ways. He was a senator, justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, delegate to Washington, D. C., and assistant principal chief.
Adair died in Washington, D. C. on October 23, 1880. Adair, Oklahoma is named after him and his brother, Dr. William Thompson Adair. Famed Cherokee humorist William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers was also named after him.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30813
