********************START OF HEADER******************** This text has been proofread but is not guaranteed to be free from errors. Corrections to the original text have been left in place. Title: Tahlequah, an electronic edition Author: Adair, Lena Harnage Publisher: Tahlequah Arrow Place published: Date: 1916 ********************END OF HEADER******************** TahlequahHere's to Tahlequah with her wooded hills,Her sparkling springs and tinkling rills,Her rocky cliffs by ferns o'ergrown,And her shady nooks by lovers known:Her maidens fair and cultured dames,And gifted sons of illustrious names.He who drinks of the waters of these lipid [sic] springs;Though far he may wander fond memory bringsSweet thoughts of the village taat [sic] nestles serene,So tranquil and lovely like an enchanted scene;Visions of beauty he long will retain,And in dreams will he oft visit Tahlequah again.About her foothills of the Ozark rise,Like a gem surrounded by her setting she lies,Near by flows the Illinois-a srystal [sic] stream,Brightly the waters o'er its pebbly bed gleam.He who loves the beautiful, along its banks may findMany a picturesque spot to delight the mind.You should see Tahlequah in the month of May,When nature has dooned [sic] her brightest array,When incense, borne by the perfumed breeze,That blows through the snow-white locust trees,Around the quaint old capital square,Floats out upon the warm sweet air;When the emerald sward is bedecked wtih [sic] flowersAnd the birds sing in their leafy bowers,And the voice of the school children on the street,Fall [sic] upon the ear like music sweet.Many a Tahlequah family its lineage tracesBack to old England's proudest races,For many a noble, to hide his head,In Cromwell's time, to America fled,And by the Cherokees were made welcomeTo dwell with them in their forest home.And in the days when revolutionary strifeOften endangered the royalists [sic] life,Over the mountains of Tennessee,The Tory came to dwell with the Cherokee:For during that period the Indians were loyalTo the British crown and the family royal.The same that Cherokee history adorn,Were not assumed, but were proudly borne,By descendants of these old English sires,Who safety sought at the Cherokee camp fires.The name Tahlequah to this town was givenBy the old Cherokees, when they were drivenFrom their eastern homes, afar to the west,Till they reached this dear spot, "A haven of rest,"Poor, sorrowing exiles, of their homes bereftGrieving for the fire-sides which they had left.God who takes care of those whom the strong oppress,And pities them in their sore distressBrought it to pass, that the land of the given,By treaty as sacred and solemn as HeavenWas better than that of which they had been despoiled,Little the white brothers knew of this landWhich they gave to the remnant of this proud band.Knew naught of the mineral wealth which hidesIts bounteous stores in the mountain sides;Naught of the verdant fruitful plants,Nor the varied resources this country contains.Here the Cherokee rested, their long journey o'er,And this wildwood was given to be theirs evermore,Here they made the council-ground.And here their Kihegas oft were foundIn solemn assembly and council grave;When laws to govern the nation they gave,Here, Sequoyah, the Cadmus, his alpabet [sic] brought,Whcih [sic] with infinite patience and skill he wrought,Schools were established to teach the youthAnd churches, to spread Christainity's [sic] truth.Soon the wilderness was made to bloomAs homes were bulit [sic] dispelled its gloom.And the town by the little woodland streamThrew its light afar, like a diamond's gleam.Such was the birth of this historic town,Which for her beauty is of wide renown,For her fountains that gush from the rough hillside,And her halls of learning, the Nation's pride.Like Athens of old, she is of learning the seat,So peaceful and quiet, a sylvan retreat. Kihegas-Leading men