She was a tall and beautiful woman, the daughter of Captain John Rogers,
one the most prominent white men in the Cherokee Nation.  She appeared to be more of a "white women" because she was less, a quarter Cherokee.  Her mother was the part Cherokee sister of two prominent Cherokee Chiefs.  She was, according to those who knew her "a half breed."

She has been called by many names, Talhina, Titania, Tyania, Tenia, and many other similar names.  Her name was actually Dianna Rogers, but she was known among the Cherokee as Tiana Rogers.  The name as it appears in the official documents found in the War Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs is spelled both "Diana" and "Dianna" Rogers.  Tradition has it that the name Diana was selected because as a baby Diana was as beautiful as the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt.  Sam Houston was said to of known her by "Hina."  The Cherokees had difficulty in pronouncing the din Diana.  So the name became Tiana.

There is a persistent belief among the full-blood and the old-settlers group of the Cherokees that Sam Houston married Diana Rogers for power and position.  It is true that no woman had a more powerful position or family in the Cherokee Nation than Diana Rogers.

Diana Rogers was the daughter of Captain John "Hell-Fire-Jack" Rogers, a wealthy Scotch trader who had been a Tory captain in the American Revolution, had fought in the Baffle of Horseshoe Bend, and later had directed Cherokee emigration to Arkansas.  Her uncles were Chief John Jolly and Chief Tallantusky. Tallantusky, until his death, had been chief of the Western Cherokees and was succeeded by Jolly, who was at this time the most influential man in the Cherokee Nation.  Her brothers, Captain John, William and Charles Rogers each operated profitable trading post and salt works.  John Rogers was the official interpreter for the Cherokee Agency. Diana's sisters and nieces were married to wealthy Cherokee merchants such as John Drew, Ignatius ChishoIm, and Peter Harper.  She was also related to Sequoyah, who wrote the Cherokee alphabet.  Even today the decedents of Diana's kinsmen are among many social leaders of their people.

It is known that Diana was married to David Gentry before the removal from Tennessee.  Gentry was a white man of considerable wealth and power who removed with the Cherokees in 1817 to Dardanelle Arkansas.  David Gentry was killed in one of the battles between the Cherokee and the Osage

Sometime during 1838 Diana Rogers became ill and died of pneumonia.  The body was buried, according to tradition, near Wilson's or Swallows Rock.  The actual place she is buried is unknown.  Three different locations are said to be her final resting place.

Three principal chiefs of the Cherokee Nation came from this family, such as the Bushyheads, McSpaddens Adairs, Vanns, Coddeys, Drews, Gulagers, Martins, Fields, Wests, Foremans, and Hicks are related to this Rogers clan.  W.C. Rogers last chief of the Cherokee Nation was a collateral of Diana Rogers.  Will Rogers was a cousin by three generations.

Sam Houston was an adopted Cherokee.  Foster Father Chief Oolooteka, or John Jolly, gave Sam the name "the raven."

by: Pitter Seabaugh