Chisholm's father, Ignatius Chisholm, was of
Scottish descent and worked as a merchant and slave trader. Ignatius was born in Tennessee circa 1777 and died in 1837 in Maine. Ignatius's lineage is disputed by historians; his maternal line is convoluted. Chisholm's mother, Martha "Patsy" (Rodgers), was a
Cherokee from the region of
Great Hiwassee (present-day Polk County) in eastern Tennessee. She was the daughter of Cherokee leader Charles Rodgers. Martha was born around 1788 and died in 1865 in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. The two married around 1800, had four kids, and separated sometime thereafter. Jesse was born circa 1805 in the Hiawassee region of Tennessee. As the Cherokee had
matrilineal kinship, Jesse was considered to belong to his mother's people. He was taken to Arkansas by his mother with the Tahlonteskee's group in 1810. The family and tribe settled along the Spadra River, as part of the voluntary relocation of Cherokee people. During his youth, Jesse hunted and explored the western frontier, developing strong survival and navigation skills.
The Osage, a resident tribe of Arkansas, resented the intruders, and they would routinely attack and kill Cherokee Families. In retaliation, Chisholm's grandfather, father, and other Cherokee warriors brutally destroyed Clermont's Osage village (near present-day
Claremore, Oklahoma) in the fall of 1817. In the years that followed, the family held a high level of political influence among both the U.S. Army and the Western Cherokees, later called the Old Settlers. In September of 1826, Chisholm became a scout for U.S. Army officers through what is now central Oklahoma and southern Kansas on a gold-hunting expedition. These visits introduced Chisholm to the languages and customs of the
Comanches and
Kiowas. He also gained extensive knowledge of the geography along the southwestern part of the Great Plains. After his scouting trips, Jesse and his father joined their relative, Chief Oolootka (
John Jolly), at Three Forks Village, near Cantonment Gibson in Indian Territory (near present-day
Muskogee, Oklahoma) May 1829,
Sam Houston arrived at Three Forks and was welcomed as a Cherokee brother by Chief Jolly. It was here that he met Jesse Chisholm. After a few months, Houston married Ignatius Chisholm’s young, widowed aunt, Diana (or Tiana) Rogers Gentry. Huston spent the following two years pursuing several financial schemes. He and Diana opened a store, the Wigwam Neosho, which became a success and may have influenced Jesse to become a trader. Houston went to Texas in 1833, leaving his Cherokee wife behind. She and the Chisholm family took over the trading post. The same summer, Jesse Chisholm bought two wagons and went to Colonel Auguste Pierre Chouteau's trading post, located south of present day
Norman, Oklahoma. He spent the rest of the year trading with various tribes along the
Canadian River and at Council Grove, located west of present day Oklahoma City. A year later, went to James Edwards's store which was located near present day Holdenville, Oklahoma. Edwards's wife was a Creek woman which allowed him to operate on Indian land. Edwards and Chisholm became friends, due to Chisholm's linguistic skills and knowledge of the geography of the Plains. Edwards offered Chisholm a business partnership. In 1836 Chisholm married Edwards's daughter, Elizabeth. ==Career==