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Maria Sequichie McIntosh Portrait

Maria Sequichie McIntosh (Wa lee yah)

The Life of Maria Sequichie Wa lee yah, also known as Maria Sequichie, was born to Charles and Martha Sequichie/Aquicha (Cummings) in the Saline District of the Cherokee Nation (current-day Oklahoma) in 1866. She was the granddaughter of Jennie Powell Sequichie who came to the Cherokee Nation on the Trail of Tears. Maria attended school at the Cherokee Female Seminary in Tahlequah, one of the first women’s boarding schools west of the Mississippi and then went on to Bacone University....

Claude “Bus” Stierwalt: WWII Letter from the Front

Claude Stierwalt, known as “Bus”, was born in Oklahoma in 1920 to Claude and Nina (Sequichie) Stierwalt. In July of 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps, serving as a Staff Sergeant throughout World War II. Family Photos Before the War Before Claude left for service the family gathered to take photos. Letter from Italy 1944 In 1944, while stationed in Italy, Bus wrote a holiday letter home to the family. His sadness at missing out on the holidays is...

Photos from the life of Charles “Dewey” Stookey 1899-1977

Charles “Dewey” Stookey was born in Oklahoma (formerly known as “Indian Territory”) in 1899 to Melvin Lee and Laura Ann (Harris) Stookey. His childhood was filled with sadness as most of his family died from sickness and disease before 1910. Only three of Dewey’s twelve siblings lived to adulthood, married and had families. After the death of both parents the surviving Stookey siblings Harrison, William, Eddie, Dewey, and Leona lived with their older brother Jacob and his wife Viola. Dewey’s...

Honoring our Family Veterans Part 1: Leslie Wendell Stierwalt

Army Air Force recruiting poster 1943-1946. Early years Leslie Wendell Stierwalt, known as”Wendell”, was born in 1924 and raised with 9 siblings and numerous cousins on the Cherokee Reservation near Nowata, Oklahoma. HIs mother, Nina Sequichie’s Cherokee family can be traced back to Georgia before the Trail of Tears and father, Claud Stierwalt’s family immigrated to the US from Germany in the early 1700’s. “Winnie” as he was known as a child, didn’t enjoy school and stopped attending after 8th grade, but his...

Amanda (Evans) Stierwalt: Show and Tell

Photo: Amanda (Evans) Stierwalt While researching this week I came across a newspaper article about Hezekiah K. Stierwalt, who was showing off some treasures while visiting relatives in Kansas. These treasures included the button (rattle) of a rattlesnake that his wife, Amanda, killed with a stick of stove wood. I have so much respect for pioneer women and am so glad to live in modern times....

School Days: Childers School

Childers School (Childers, Nowata, Oklahoma) Class of 1939 BACK (L TO R): Yvonne Fuzzell, William York, Mildred Myers, Helen Price, Willie Daniels, Natalie Coleman, Sam Randall, Lucille Dawson Spears, Fred Sloan  FRONT (L TO R): Charles Montgomery, Esther Stierwalt, Garold (Pat) Montgomery, Mr.Wm.Cook (Class Sponsor) Claude “Buster” Stierwalt, Alma Lee Parrett, Johnny Lee Harrison Class of 1948 BACK (L TO R): Fred Swalley, Pete Vaughn, Barbara Woody, Bob Scott, Supt. Bill Cook, George “Casper” Speer, Arvona “Mickey” Stookey, Bobby Fuzzell...

Charles Arch Sequichie, Jr: Stories of an Every Day Hero

Photo: A. Johnson and Archie Sequichie hero: 1. a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character. 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal. every day hero Occasionally we hear about someone who, for a moment, under exceptional circumstances, sets their personal comfort and safety aside to perform a heroic act…saving a child from a burning building or confronting a dangerous criminal. By all accounts, Charles “Arch” Sequichie, Jr. made self-sacrificing choices to serve others his entire life. In my mind, there is no greater hero than someone who puts the care, safety,...