Tishomingo: A Chief's Name on the Land

The small town of Tishomingo takes its name from one of the most distinguished Chickasaw leaders of the early nineteenth century. Chief Tishomingo, whose title in the Chickasaw language translates roughly as assistant chief, served alongside United States forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in seventeen ninety-four, in the Red Stick War against the Creeks in eighteen thirteen, and in the War of eighteen twelve under the command of Uriah Blue. President George Washington personally awarded him a silver medal.

He was a principal signer of Chickasaw treaties in eighteen sixteen and eighteen eighteen, and he was present at the Treaty of Pontotoc in eighteen thirty-two, the agreement that surrendered the last Chickasaw homeland in Mississippi. Chief Tishomingo was forced west with his family under an eighteen thirty-seven treaty and died in Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, around eighteen thirty-seven or eighteen thirty-eight. His county, his state park, and this quiet town all carry his name forward.