Dwight Presbyterian Mission
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Dwight Mission
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| Nearest city | Marble City, Oklahoma |
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| Coordinates | 35°32′51″N 94°51′9″W / 35.54750°N 94.85250°WCoordinates: 35°32′51″N 94°51′9″W / 35.54750°N 94.85250°W |
| Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
| Built | 1923 |
| NRHP reference # | 73001570 |
| Added to NRHP | March 20, 1973 |
Dwight Presbyterian Mission was one of the first American missions to the Native Americans. It was established near Russellville, Arkansas in 1821 to serve the Arkansas Cherokees. Because they were required to move to Indian Territory in 1828, the mission was reestablished in Indian Territory in 1829 near present-day Marble City, Oklahoma. The mission is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A mission was requested by Tahlonteskee, the Principal Chief of the Western Cherokees after he had visited Brainerd Mission in 1818. The mission was founded in 1821 on Illinois Bayou near Russellville, Arkansas by Cephas Washburn. It was named for Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College and a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
By 1824, Dwight Mission was a self-contained small town on the frontier. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, there were at least 24 buildings, including residences for missionaries, students, staff, and visitors; support buildings that included a combination library, post office and pharmacy; a dining hall with kitchen; a storehouse; a blacksmith shop; lathe and carpenter shop; a stable and a barn.
A new treaty between the Cherokees and the United States in 1828 required the Arkansas Cherokees to move to Indian Territory. Therefore, the mission was reestablished in May 1829, on Sallisaw Creek, near the present city of Marble City, Oklahoma. The school opened May 1, 1830. Initially, the facility had a double log house teacher age (a building combining school and living quarters) and several log houses to house the staff.Eventually, there would be twenty-one houses, a dining hall, a barn and a number of outbuildings. The mission had more than a dozen staff members and eighty students at the peak of its activity. Its primary mission was to provide an education to Cherokee children and expose them to the Christian religion.
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