George Guess, aka Sequoyah

Sequoyah was the creator of the Cherokee writing system. Believed to be the son of a Virginia fur trader named Nathaniel, he was raised by his Cherokee mother, Wuh-teh of the Paint clan, in the Tennessee country. He never learned to speak, read, or write English. He was an accomplished silversmith, blacksmith, painter, and warrior. He served with the U.S. Army in the Creek War in 1813-14.

In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. This was one of the very few times in recorded history that a member of a pre-literate people created an original, effective writing system. After seeing its worth, the people of the Cherokee Nation rapidly began to use his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825.

Despite his lack of schooling, Sequoyah displayed much natural intelligence. As a child, he devised and built milk troughs and skimmers for the dairy house he had constructed. He learned how to make jewelry as he grew older and interacted with more white men. He became a noted silversmith, creating various items from the silver coins that trappers and traders carried. He never signed his pieces, so there are none that can be positively identified as his work.