Rose Cottage - Park Hill, OK - Oklahoma Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Along the walkway through this historic family cemetery of Principal Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, is a marker telling the story of his once beautify home called Rose Cottage. The marker reads:

"ROSS COTTAGE / Ross Cottage was the plantation home built for John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. It was built in 1845 in Park Hill, Indian Territory. This stately, built wooden house was situated on a hillside surrounded by native oak and elm trees that gave it shade. It had two stories and faced north. The pillared porch extended the length of the front of the house. Two large chimneys of native stone stood at each end of the house. The interior included guest rooms, family rooms, a library, and a parlor, all furnished with mahoghany and rosewood furniture brought from the east. Ornate china and rich linens graced the dining table which hosted many travelers, friends, and countrymen during the home's existence.

"The plantation comprised a thousand acres and numerous fruit trees were scattered about the grounds and it is said that the property hosted a thousand apple trees. The grounds were planted with shrubs and flowers, while the kitchen garden produced enough fruits and vegetables to feed the family, its workers, and its many guests. Also on the site with a kiln, a smokehouse, a dairy, a blacksmith shop, a laundry, a large barn, cabins for the workers, flocks of sheep, and many fine horses. All the food, clothing and tools needed were produced on the estate, with only the luxuries for the mansion being imported. The driveway to the house was a half-mile long and lined with a painted wooden fence, on which grew a variety of roses. This is how the house became known as Rose Cottage.

"Waddy Thompson, a personal friend of Chief Ross, wrote of the stately home and his friend, saying: He resides about four miles from Tahlequah, in a very spacious wooden house, furnished with great taste and elegance. I have seen few men who perform the office of host with such a combination of ease, dignity and cordiality. The whole establishment, house, furniture, host and hostess are a perfect pattern of the residence of the country gentleman.

"The house enjoyed several years of family and tribal life until the Civil War. Although the Cherokee Nation entered an agreement to support the Confederacy, some Cherokee did not sympathize with the southern cause. On August 3,1862, Chief Ross, taking the Cherokee national papers, went with his family and a number of Cherokee refugees to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to seek Union sympathy for the tribe. They were advised to go to Washington to petition President Abraham Lincoln for their cause; soon thereafter, the group departed for the East. Ross's wife Mary and their children went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Ross went to Washington to complete tribal business.

"On October 29, 1865, Colonel Stand Watie, commander of the Confederate Cherokee forces in Indian Territory, lead an expedition through the area, burning Cherokee buildings and homes. Rose Cottage had been left in the care of several Ross family members. On that fateful night, Confederate soldiers rode to the house and set it ablaze. When the family inside tried to exit, the soldiers met them with bayonets to drive them back into the burning house. Eventually, the family escaped and watched as the house burned to the ground.

"Upon hearing of the destruction of their home, Mary Ross wrote to her husband: Home, my dear Husband we have no home there now, one we cherished so long and took so much trouble to beautify, is now in ashes, all is ruin around. I do not think it safe for our loved ones to remain their (sic) any longer.

"Though Chief Ross returned to the Nation after the war to view the ruins left behind, he never rebuilt his family home. He died in 1866 while on business in Washington. He is buried in Ross Cemetery, over looking the site where his plantation home once stood.

"To view the site where Rose Cottage once stood, look to the northwest from where you are standing. You will see a mixture of trees and some farm implements which shelter all that remains of this stately home including parts of a foundation, basement, and a few bricks. The property is privately owned and visitors are not welcome."

The website shown below is a YouTube video about the site and plans for historical renovation.

County: Cherokee Record Address:: S. Keeler Road North of E. Murrel Road Park Hill, OK US 74451 Web site if available: [Web Link] Rate the Site: Date Erected: Not shown Sponsor (Who put it there): Cherokee Nation

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