Chisholm, William E., 1837-1880

Indian trader, guide, and interpreter Jesse Chisholm (1805?–1868) was born in the Hiawassee region of Tennessee. His father, Ignatius Chisholm, was a merchant and slave trader of Scottish ancestry, who married a Cherokee woman with whom he produced three sons, of which Jesse was the eldest. After the, couple separated, Jesse’s mother took him to Arkansas in 1810. During the late 1820s, he moved to the Cherokee Nation and settled near Fort Gibson in what is now eastern Oklahoma. In 1836, he married Eliza Edwards, the daughter of a trader in Hughes County, Oklahoma, with whom he had several children, including William E. Chisholm. Chisholm traded goods west and south into Plains Indian country, learning a dozen or so languages and establishing small trading posts. He became a busy guide and interpreter in Kansas, Indiana Territory, and Texas, where he remained active for several decades. Eliza Chisholm died in 1846, and a year later Jesse married Sahkahkee McQueen.

In the 1840s, Republic of Texas President Sam Houston called on Chisholm to contact the prairie Indian tribes of West Texas. Subsequently, Chisholm served the Republic or several years, as guide and interpreter at the Tehuacana Creek councils and other meetings. Additionally, Chisholm assembled representatives from seven tribes at an 1850 council on the San Saba River. Through his tribal contacts, he also secured the release of hostages held by various Indian groups.

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