Cushman was born on August 13, 1820, in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. He was the son of missionaries who worked at
Mayhew, Mississippi. Cushman, as a child, witnessed the Choctaw Indians' removal from 1831 to 1833. During the
American Civil War, Cushman served as a private in the
43rd Mississippi Infantry. After the War in 1868, Cushman moved to Texas near the Red River where the Choctaw Nation was found. In 1884, Cushman began writing his Choctaw and Chickasaw history. He spent six years researching for the book. It was first printed in 1899. He died on October 18, 1904, and was buried in Greenville, Texas. ==Works==