Historical Marker

Cherokee

Historical marker location:

Alto, Texas

( 2 miles SW of Alto on Hwy 21)

In the present county of Cherokee was the home of the exalted Grand Xinesi-Chief Priest and Custodian of the Sacred Fire of the Hasinai Confederacy of Indians. If fire was allowed to die out, it was his duty to carry more fire with proper ceremony to their homes to be rekindled. It was to the Hasinai -- the principal tribe of this Confederacy -- that the word "Texas" was generally applied.