Historical Marker Program

Choctaw Chief’s House

Choctaw County
Location: on grounds of house, two miles northeast of Swink
Coordinates: 34.023164, -95.181443
Material: Concrete with bronze plaque
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Daughters of the American Revoluntion
Topics: American Indians; Family/Household; Settlement Patterns; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Three concrete markers commemorate what was once known as Choctaw Chief’s House. This house was originally believed to have been constructed for Choctaw District Chief Thomas LeFlore in 1832 per terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830). Subsequent research uncovered that Chief LeFlore’s House likely stood west of Wheelock Mission in McCurtain County. See “Chief’s Old House.” Also see Louis Coleman, “The Choctaw Chief’s House: Oral Tradition and Historical Inaccuracies,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma 81, No. 4 (Winter 2003–04): 492–501. Markers’ sponsors include the Oklahoma Historical Society and Daughters of the American Revolution.

Doaksville

Choctaw County
Location: one mile north of Fort Towson on Red Road and east of Fort Towson Cemetery
Coordinates: 34.034867, -95.269867
Material: Concrete with bronze plaque
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Indian and Frontier Trade; Settlement Patterns; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

This town was the commercial center of the region shortly after it was established by Josiah Doak in 1824. At one time it was the capital of the Choctaw Nation. The name of the post office at nearby Fort Towson was changed to Doaksville on November 11, 1847.

Dorothy Jean Orton

Choctaw County
Location: on grounds of Fort Towson Historic Site
Coordinates: 34.027830, -95.257074
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Industrial Period, 1941–1982; Military; Social/Cultural

Dorothy Jane Orton was the prime mover in urging the restoration of Old Fort Towson. Due to her untiring efforts her home community and the entire state became aware of the important of preserving Fort Towson as a part of Oklahoma's Historic Heritage. She was born on January 7, 1915 at Fort Towson she graduated from high school there and attended Southeastern State College. Dorothy Orton was the first Oklahoma woman to enlist in the Women's Army Corps for World War II. After two and one-half years in the army she was discharged from service with the rank of captain. She was recalled to active duty in the army in November of 1950 and saw service at Fort Lee, Virginia. At Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky and as a staff officer in the Oklahoma District Military Office, where she was serving at the time of her discharge from army service in January of 1953. After military service, Dorothy Orton became postmaster at Fort Towson and held this position until the time of her death by accident while on a Mountain Fork River Fishing Trip May 31, 1968.

Fort Towson

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70 at east edge of Fort Towson
Coordinates: 34.017681, -95.253985
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Government; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Colonel Matthew Arbuckle ordered the construction of the fort in May 1824 to guard the US boundary with Mexico. After Indian removals to the area in the 1830s, the fort served as a permanent army post until 1854. During the Civil War, the fort was occupied by Confederate forces. Brigadier General Stand Watie surrendered his Confederate troops here in June 1865, the last Confederate general to lay down his arms. Fort Towson was abandoned after the Civil War.

Fort Towson Landing

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70 at east edge of Fort Towson
Coordinates: 34.017682, -95.254016
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Indian and Frontier Trade; Industry/Business; Retail; Transportation

The Fort Towson Landing was south of here on the banks of the Red River. Also known as the Public Landing, it served as a receiving point for soldiers and supplies delivered by keelboats and steamboats from 1824 to 1854. Traders at the Choctaw settlement of Doaksville and local planters received goods and transported cotton to New Orleans. The cotton went to textile mills in Great Britain and the eastern United States helping to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Commercial navigation on the Upper Red River continued until the early 1900s when railroads surpassed it an as economical mode of transportation.

Goodland Mission

Choctaw County
Location: on OK 271A approximately two miles southwest of Hugo
Coordinates: 33.982754, -95.555325
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Education; Industrial, 1941–1982; Modern Period, 1982–present; Religion/Philosophy; Social/Cultural; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Established in 1848 by the Presbyterian Church as a mission among the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. Organized through the efforts of Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, Ebenezer Hotchkin, Alfred Wright, Cyrus Byington and C. C. Copeland. The first church and school were built in 1850. During the Civil War, Choctaw troops drilled on the campus for service in the Confederacy. The school returned to its primary mission of educating Indian youth after the war. Later, the mission school was called the Goodland Indian Orphanage, operated by the Southern Presbyterian Church. As the Goodland Presbyterian Children's Home since 1960, it is one of the oldest schools in continuous operation in Oklahoma. The current granite marker replaced an aluminum marker that can still be found on the Goodland Academy campus.

Goodwater Choctaw Mission

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70, one mile west of Kiamichi River bridge
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Education; Religion/Philosophy; Social/Cultural

In 1837, Reverend Ebenezer Hotchkins established the mission that became a Choctaw seminary for girls in 1842. The school closed at the beginning of the Civil War. Only the graves of the missionaries who served there mark the site.

Note: This marker is missing.

Old Spencer Academy

Choctaw County
Location: on grounds of old Spencer Academy, 8 miles north of Sawyer
Coordinates: 34.145919, -95.357897
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Arts; Education; Ethnic Diversity; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Spencer Academy opened at this location in January 1844. This noted school for Choctaw boys, established by the Choctaw Council, was named for John C. Pencer, US Secretary of War. Subjects through high school were taught. The first graduates went to eastern colleges in 1848. Large buildings were erected in a quadrangle here including Jones Hall, Pitchlynn Hall, Armstrong Hall, a school building and dining hall, with houses for employees, storehouses and barns adjacent. It was here that the spirituals “Steal Away to Jesus,” “Roll, Jordon Roll,” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” were composed. “Uncle” Wallis and “Aunt” Minerva Willis, spiritual composers, were enslaved in the Choctaw Nation and hired out by their owner to work for school superintendent Rev. Alexander Reid. Also see “Spencer Academy.”

Note: This marker incorrectly identifies Wallace and Minerva Willis as husband and wife when, in fact, they were father and daughter.

Rose Hill

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70, two miles east of Hugo
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Agriculture; American Indians; Ethnic Diversity; Family/Household; Social/Cultural

Rose Hill, constructed before the Civil War, was the plantation home of Colonel Robert M. Jones, the wealthiest citizen of the Choctaw Nation. At one time, he owned 500 slaves to farm the land along the Red River. His mansion was decorated with crystal chandeliers imported from Europe. Rose Hill burned to the ground on Christmas night 1912. Only a row of massive cedar trees mark the site of the home today. Nearby, Jones is buried with his wife and children in a family cemetery.

Note: This marker was reported missing.

Spencer Academy

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70 east of Sawyer
Coordinates: 34.017945, -95.364481
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Arts; Education; Ethnic Diversity; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

A noted school for boys, Spencer Academy was established by the Choctaw Nation in 1841 and named for Secretary of War John C. Spencer. Students who were later prominent Choctaw leaders included Coleman E. Nelson, Allen Wright, Jackson McCurtain, Charles S. Vinson, B. F. Smallwood, Jefferson Gardner, Simon T. Dwight, Eliphalet N. Wright, and Homer Davis.

Stand Watie’s Surrender

Choctaw County
Location: at Doaksville (one mile north of Fort Towson off Red Road; east of Fort Towson Cemetery)
Coordinates: 34.034867, -95.269867
Material: Concrete with bronze plaque
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Military; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Here at Doaksville, June 23, 1865, Brigadier General Stand Watie, Cherokee Indian, was the last Confederate general to surrender.

Transportation Crossroads

Choctaw County
Location: on grounds of Fort Towson Historic Site
Coordinates: 34.027844, -95.257116
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Folklife; Military; Settlement Patterns; Social/Cultural; Transportation

During the early 1800s, present southeastern Oklahoma was a major transportation crossroads. Roads connected Fort Towson in the Choctaw Nation to military installations to the north, south, and west. On the Texas side of the Red River, Jonesboro was a major entry point for thousands headed for Austin's Colony and other settlements in Texas. Along these routes traveled such notable persons as General Zachary Taylor, Sam Houston, David Crockett, Jefferson Davis, and Benjamin Milan.