First Council House (1855 - 1858)

When the Chickasaw people were forcibly removed from their homelands in Mississippi between 1837 and the 1850's, they journeyed to Indian Territory where they settled among the Choctaw.  Friction soon developed, and in 1855 a treaty between the Choctaw and Chickasaw established the Chickasaw Nation and set the physical boundaries between the two nations.

Later that year, Chickasaw leaders and citizens met on Pennington Creek at Good Spring, later named Tishomingo, to begin shaping the government of the new nation.  A log building and brush arbors were constructed to house the council and representatives.  Within the log Council House, the council drafted a constitution, ratified in 1856, which formally developed and defined an independent Chickasaw government.  The log Council House served the Chickasaw Nation until a large brick building was built in 1858.

Sometime before 1900, the original log structure was moved to the farm of Chickasaw Governor R.M. Harris, where it was used as a playhouse and smokehouse.  In the 1930's, the building was moved from the farm to the Capitol Square in Tishomingo.  Today, the same Council House, which played such an important role in early Chickasaw government, is now protected and preserved within the walls of the Chickasaw Council House Museum.