Garland Cemetery

Sophia's son Peter Pitchlynn, schooled at the Choctaw Academy in Kentucky and the University of Nashville, was a farmer, stock raiser and slaveholder of the Choctaw landed elite. He opposed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek but led an emigrant party west in 1831 and settled on the Mountain Fork near Eagletown in 1834. He helped rebuild the nation's government and school system in the West and pressed its claims in Washington for decades. Elected chief on October 6, 1864, he signed the armistice at Doaksville on June 19, 1865, and to the end opposed allotment of Choctaw land.

What the plaque says

Garland Cemetery Small cemetery nearby contains graves of Choctaw Chief Samuel Garland (1862-64) and family mem- bers including his mother-in-law Sophia Pitchlynn. Peter Pitchlynn, son of Sophia and John Pitchlynn, was chief 1864-66. Garland migrat- ed from Mississippi during Choctaw removal in 1830's. Opened and oper- ated large plantation in vicinity with Black slave labor. Cemetery is the only remaining evidence of Garland occupation. Headstone of Sophia Pitchlynn bears birthdate of December 27, 1773, believed to be earliest in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Historical Society 200-1995

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Miller Courthouse — 22 mi
• Shawneetown — 22 mi
• Military Road — 24 mi