Cherokee County Was Named for the People Who Were Forced Out of It

Cherokee County was formed on April 11, 1846, from Nacogdoches County. It was organized on July 13 of that year. Rusk became the county seat. It was named after Gen. Thomas Jefferson Rusk, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

The county's name comes from the Cherokee people who settled the area in the early 1800s. In 1836, a treaty tried to secure Cherokee neutrality during the Texas Revolution. The Texas Senate rejected it. Conflict grew. The Killough Massacre happened in 1838. The Cherokee War of 1839 ended with the expulsion of the Cherokee and all associated tribes from the county.

Anglo-American settlers had been arriving since 1834. By 1860, the county was producing over 6,000 bales of cotton per year.