Excerpt from "The Chickasaw nation : a short sketch of a noble people (1922)"   by James H. Malone  (Sequoyah - page 358)
California Digital Library

Sequoyah Becomes a Man

The large Spanish, French, and English coins which came into his hands were fashioned into rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other ornaments with so much skill that he became the most famous silversmith in all the land. He also turned his attention to art, and without a teacher drew sketches of deer, horses, cows, and other familiar objects, and though rude at first his skill so improved that his sketches presented a very good resemblance to the objects they were designed to represent; and he also became a most famous story-teller, and altogether we are not surprised that he easily became the most popular Cherokee in all the tribe.

Having lost his mother, it is said his home became the rendezvous for all the wild and gay young Indian warriors, and that Sequoyah for a time became dissipated, but exercising that strong will for which he was noted, he eventually cast aside forever his indulgence in intoxicating liquors.