Historical Marker Program

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Fairfield Mission

Adair County
Location: at junction of OK-100 and US-59 on south edge of Stilwell
Coordinates: 35.800881, -94.625989
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Education; Religion/Philosophy; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

The mission building, completed in 1829 by Dr. Marcus Palmer, a missionary to the Cherokee, stood in a grove of large trees a few hundred feet east of the cemetery now known as McLemore Cemetery. Noted missionaries and teachers at the mission included Elizur Butler, Charles C. Torrey, Clarissa Palmer, Lucy Butler, and Esther Smith. A circulation library, possibly the state’s first, was established at the mission in 1832.

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Fort Wayne

Adair County
Location: on US-59 on south edge of Watts
Coordinates: 36.105500, -94.574600
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Established in 1838 by Lieutenant Colonel R. B. Mason, 1st Dragoons, US Army, at the request of Arkansas citizens fearing Cherokees who were being removed from southeastern US. Named in honor of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the fort was originally located in the NE corner of present-day Watts on a hill overlooking the Illinois River. It was considered a poor location because many soldiers died there, including Captain John Stuart, 7th infantry. In 1839, the fort was abandoned and moved to Beatie’s Prairie, west of Maysville, Arkansas. That site was abandoned in 1842, and troops moved north to establish Fort Scott, Kansas.

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Starr Springs

Adair County
Location: at junction of OK-100 and US-59 on south edge of Stilwell
Coordinates: 35.800865, -94.625997
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Settlement Patterns; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Starr Springs was the head of Sallisaw Creek, a source of water for Stilwell since 1910. The area was the site of the 1853 murder of Andrew Adair and his son, George W. Adair, because of their support for Cherokee removal. The spring was named for George Harlan Starr, a prominent Cherokee, who purchased the site in 1867. The marker is a tribute to D. M. “Mack” Starr, respected and knowledgeable Cherokee historian, who died in 1995.