THE FARMER Cherokee America Rogers

Gravestone of Cherokee America Rogers — Headstone of Cherokee America Rogers
photo by Michelle Aldridge

Margaret Verble ‘found’ Cherokee America Rogers in a cemetery while visiting her grandfather’s grave. This “jaw-dropping” name sparked a journey into her own family history, the neglected stories of the Civil War in Indian Territory, and her newest novel, Cherokee America. Discover the remarkable woman behind this remarkable name, and the under-told and misunderstood history of Cherokee women in the nineteenth century.

Our guest is Margaret Verble, author of Maud’s Line and Cherokee America, and enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Cherokee and Indian Territory map — Oklahoma and Indian Territories
map by K. Musser

Cherokee national capital building — Cherokee National Capital

Portrait of Chief Lowery, Cherokee America's great-uncle — Chief Lowery, Cherokee America Rogers’ great-uncle
public domain

Portrait of John Sevier, Cherokee America's great grandfather — Governor John Sevier
First Governor of Tennessee
Cherokee America Rogers’ great-grandfather

Margaret Verble is an enrolled and voting citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a member of a large Cherokee family that has, through generations, made many contributions to the tribe’s history and survival. Her first novel, Maud’s Line, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her newest novel, Cherokee America, is set in 1875 in the Arkansas River bottoms of the old Cherokee Nation West.