Blacksmithing was one of the trades taught to prisoners at the Cherokee National Prison during their incarceration so that men and women would have skills to use after release to better their lives and avoid further crime. A blacksmith shop was built in the prison yard after 1877, as decreed by the first High Sheriff, Samuel Sixkiller. The exact type of blacksmithing taught is unknown, but items recovered from the ground during the prison's restoration included horseshoes, gardening implements, tools, and hardware. The original blacksmith shop stood a little farther west with the other workshops, not at the location of the present building.