SOPHIA BYINGTON
Not everyone who moved to Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears was a Native American. Some people who worked among the Indians made the hard journey along with the tribes. One person was Sophia Byington.
Sophia and her husband Cyrus were missionaries to the Choctaw. A missionary is someone who teaches others about their religion. But Sophia did more than that. She brought medicine to sick children. She taught the Choctaw the English language. She helped the Choctaw learn to read and write, too.
When the Choctaw lost their lands in the east, Sophia and her husband moved with the tribe to Indian Territory. They settle near Marietta in the southern part of the Choctaw lands.
Once at home in Indian Territory, she helped to write a Choctaw dictionary. And she even helped her husband to translate the Bible into the Choctaw language. (“Translate” means to change the words of one language into another language.) Sophia and Cyrus Byington kept working with the tribe for thirty more years
1. How did Sophia help others in need?
2. What did Sophia give up to keep working with the Choctaw people?
3. What do missionaries do? What did Sophia and Cyrus do as missionaries?
Courtesy Oklahoma Council for Social Studies