At Tahlequah, the Cherokee constitution was adopted on Sept. 6, 1839, in a convention of leaders including George Lowry, Sequoya, Walter S. Adair, Stephen Foreman, Joshua Buffington, George Brewer, and Chief John Ross. The town was incorporated in 1843. The Cherokee Advocate was printed at Tahlequah as the first newspaper in the state. Cherokee Seminaries opened near here in 1851.