Atoka Co., Oklahoma - History: Oklahoma and Bryan County History
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Submitted by the Bryan County Heritage Library 
Located in Calera, OK
Written by Clara Nash and Erma L. Taylor 
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Email:  jmarlow@texoma.net 
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Bryan County, named for William Jennings Bryan, who gave helpful 
suggestions to the majority party of the Constitutional Convention while 
the State Constitution was in its formative stage, is located in 
Southeastern Oklahoma.  It is the third county west from the Arkansas 
state line, bounded on the east by Choctaw County, on the north by Atoka 
and Johnson counties and on the south by Red River.  A very small 
portion of the NE boundary is formed by clear Boggy Creek.  The historic 
Washita River, on whose bank is situated "Old Fort Washita," separates 
it on the west from Marshall County.  The county has an area of 928 
square miles containing 593,920 acres.

Various flags have flown over the county as well as over Oklahoma.  
French explorers, hunters and trappers followed the water courses in 
their trapping expeditions.  This gave France a claim to the land.  
Other flags that have flown over the territory are those of Spain, 
Mexico, England, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate and Indian 
flags.  Four others that have been raised over I.T. one time or another 
are the Colonial flags, the American flag, and two adopted by the state 
of Oklahoma.

The first Oklahoma flag adopted by the Legislature in 1911, consisted of 
a red field with a five pointed star of white, edged with blue, in the 
center thereof, with the figures 46 in blue, in the center of the star.  
Because this flag laced individuality, very few citizens of Oklahoma 
knew that a state flag had ever been adopted.

Then in 1925, the tenth Legislature adopted the design submitted by Mrs. 
George Fluke, Jr.  Much of the flag's design was suggested to her by 
Joseph B. Thoburn, formerly research director, Oklahoma Historical 
Society.  The specification for the design by the Legislature read as 
follows:  "A sky blue field with a circular rawhide shield of an 
American Indian Warrior, decorated with six painted crosses on the face 
thereof, the lower half of the shield to be fringed with seven pendant 
eagle feathers and superimposed upon a face of the shield a calumet or 
peace pipe, crossed at right angles by an olive branch." (Oklahoma 
Session Laws. 1925, P. 340, State Flag.)

The 1941 Legislature adopted a resolution providing that the word 
"Oklahoma" in white letters be placed underneath the shield or design.  
The symbolism of the various parts of the design are as follows: The 
blue field signifies loyalty and devotion, the shield implies defensive 
or protective warfare, when justifiable, the small crosses on the shield 
are the Indian's graphic sign for stars an may indicate lofty ideals or 
a purpose endeavor; the shield thus surmounted by, but always 
subservient to, the calumet and olive branch, betoken a predominant love 
of peace by a united people.  Colors are:  Field, sky blue; shield, 
light tan; feathers, white shading into brown tips; small crosses, 
white; calumet stem, light buff; with pipe, brown; and pendant tassel, 
dark red; olive branch, olive brown.

The Spaniards also explored north and north-westward, finally 
establishing a series of missions and schools through southern Texas, 
Arizona and westward to the coast of California.  Others were 
established among the Choctaw in Indian Territory, but for some reason 
failed to become permanent.  Missions and school always seemed to go 
together.  Where one was you would find the other.

Missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
had carried on work among the Choctaw in Mississippi and moved west with 
the tribe to begin their labors in the new region.  The Board sent over 
three hundred missionaries, lay and clerical, to labor among the Indians 
that came to Oklahoma from Mississippi.  There were more of these in the 
Choctaw Nation than in any other part of the I.T. before the Civil War.  
Twelve neighborhood schools were in operation in the Nations in 1838.  
By 1842, missions were largely supported from the Choctaw National 
funds, amounting to an annual appropriation of $26,000.  There were 
schools for both boys and girls as well as adults.  Besides boarding 
schools and day or neighborhood schools, "Sunday Schools" were 
established.  Adults camped about the churches and schools for 
instruction in the rudiments of arithmetic, reading and writing in the 
Choctaw language.  They were soon a literate people.

Among the well-known missionaries were Cyrus Kingsbury, Alfred Wright, 
Cyrus Byington, and Ebenezer Hotchkin.  Kingsbury, who in 1818 had 
established Elliot Mission, the first one among the Choctaw in 
Mississippi, came west with the Indians.  He was called the "Father of 
the Choctaw Mission."  He died in Oklahoma in 1871.

Early missionaries had three objectives in mind when they established a 
mission.  "Evangelization, schools for the youth, practical farming to 
furnish food and instruct the Indians in better farming methods, 
blacksmithing and carpentering..."  (The Red Man's Trail, W.B. 
Morrison.)  They influenced them spiritually, educationally and morally.  
Such names as Kingsbury, Byington, Williams, Wright, Cushman, Polly, 
Hotchkin, Hawes, Bardwell, and Smith will long be remembered for their 
labors of loving service among the Indians.

One missionary, Alfred Wright, was a native of Connecticut, and a 
graduate of Williams College.  He was ordained as a missionary at 
Charleston, S.C. in 1819.  He worked among the Choctaw at Goshen in 
Mississippi and came west with them in 1832.  He was called "the beloved 
Physician" since he made a study of medicine.  He held his first service 
under a large tree near Wheelock Station, (Oklahoma).  Split logs were 
used for benches and a wooden box for a pulpit.  A church was 
established with 37 charter members.  A building was constructed of 
stone, which is said to be still standing, near his station, the first 
of its kind in Oklahoma.  It is considered the oldest church in the 
state.  Dr. Wright died there in 1853 and was buried in the shadow of 
his church.  He translated the four gospels into Choctaw and received 
570 persons into the church.
	
In 1842, the Choctaw General Council established a system of boarding 
schools for boys and girls, to be maintained form the tribal school fund 
origination under the Treaty of Doak's Stand, 1820.  Within three years, 
Spencer, Fort Coffee and Armstrong Academies were in operation for boys.  
Ku"sha (Goodwater), Iannubbi, Chuwahla, (Pine Ridge), Wheelock, and New 
Hope seminaries for girls.

As the Choctaw became increasingly noted for their educational system, 
their schools became the pattern for similar institutions in the Creek 
and Seminole nations.

The government did not establish a school in Pushmataha District for 
some years, but there were two "common" school houses constructed by the 
Indians.  Ramsey Potts, a Baptist, erected a schoolhouse in his district 
at his own expense.  The neighborhood was populated principally by full-
blood Indians who were indifferent about schools; he employed a woman 
teacher for the girls who attended and boarded her at his house.  The 
next year he reported that his school was not adequately provided with 
books and stationery, and he said "he had only seen one spinning wheel 
and no looms in the district." (Grant Foreman, The Five Civilized 
Tribes, p. 45)  The schools offered an elementary curriculum of reading, 
writing, spelling, arithmetic and Bible study.  Schoolhouses were built 
of hewn logs.  Benches were made of split logs for there were no saw 
mills.
Many teachers came for the east and north from homes of culture so were 
not prepared to withstand the ordeals of pioneering.  Many died an early 
death or had to return to their homes because of illness or bad health.  
Every mission in Mississippi and Oklahoma has some of these unselfish 
people buried in their neglected cemeteries.  Salaries were from $75 to 
$150 a year.

To help the teachers, Cyrus Byington, after years of study, was able to 
use the English alphabet to change the spoken language of the Choctaws 
to written form.  His first Choctaw grammar was published in 1834.  
Cyrus Kingsbury, L.S. Williams and Alfred Wright were his co-workers.  
They translated English texts into Choctaw and produced a Choctaw-
English dictionary.  Portions of the scripture were translated into 
Choctaw by Wright, who was a native preacher.  He also translated for 
the use of the schools, some 60 books and tracts for those who couldn't 
learn English. 

Armstrong Academy for boys in Bryan County was constructed about 1844.  
The site was selected by a committee made up of Ramsey D. Potts, Captain 
Silas Fisher, Nicholas Cochneus, Isaac LeFlore and Robert M. Jones. 
Potts was the first superintendent, followed by W.R. Baker, then A.G. 
Moffat in 1855.  Students were taught McGuffey's Reader, first through 
forth, Webster's and Fowle's spelling books, philosophy, Smith's 
Arithmetic, English grammar, elementary algebra, geography, writing and 
composition.  The boys also farmed, one year raising 300 bushels of 
wheat, which they cut and threshed, 65 acres of corn, which yielded and 
estimated 1400 bushels.  This helped students to pay their way in 
school.  

Girls weren't neglected either.  Besides the schools mentioned above, 
Bloomfield Academy, south and east of Colbert, was constructed for them 
by Silas A. Carr and financed by the Methodist Missionary Board, which 
contributed one third and the Chickasaw Nation the rest of the money 
needed for current expenses.  They also received $1,000 annually, from 
interest on money George Washington refused to accept from the First 
Congress for his services during the Revolutionary War as commander-in-
chief of the army.

The Civil War interrupted education.  Boarding schools were closed and 
students returned home.  It was some time after the close of the war 
before educational attempts resumed. In 1894, the Choctaw canceled all 
contracts for their schools from other sources.  The Federal Government 
took control of all tribal schools in 1898, funding them with Indian 
Funds.  Today most Choctaw children attend public schools.

Spanish and French influence is stamped indelibly on the West in various 
ways.  Many streams and towns in Oklahoma bear French names, which have 
come down through the years as a result of French exploitation in the 
valleys.  Some Indian families have French names due to the 
intermarriage of the French and Indians, both east and west of the 
Mississippi.  Among these are LeFlore, LaForge, Choteau and Colbert.  
The Washita, Poteau and Verdigris Rivers and San Bois Mountains are 
French names.

Coronado was the first of a number of Spanish explorers to come to 
Oklahoma.  Having heard of untold wealth possessed by some Indian 
tribes, he started a march in search of the "Seven cities of Cibola", 
where, reportedly great amounts of gold could be found.  In his mind a 
sort of desert mirage led him on and on across the great sand and alkali 
stretches to the verdant grass-covered prairies of Oklahoma.  He and his 
party were led by a conniving Indian named Turk across the western 
portion of Oklahoma and on into Kansas.  He spent the winter there with 
the Pawnees in the Indian village of Quivire.  When Coronado found out 
Turk was misleading him and encouraging the Indians to attack him and 
his party, he put him to death.  He decided that what wealth the Indians 
might have was not for the Spaniards so finally returned to Mexico 
feeling he was a failure.

In 1601, Onate, another Spaniard, started in search of the "Seven 
Cities".  He fought an unsuccessful battle at Quivira.  The next 
expedition in 1620 was under the leadership of Priest Juan de Salas who 
planned to establish missions among the Indians.  The Catholic missions 
did not thrive and were finally abandoned.  The last attempt by the 
authorities in Mexico failed when, in 1650 Castillo tried to find the 
"lost Spanish Mines."  He arrived at the Wichita Mountains and spent 
some time searching for valuable mineral deposits.  At last, discouraged 
by the many unsuccessful expeditions, Spain stopped explorations for a 
century.  She never made any attempt to colonize the vast regions.  
Neither did the French to whom the land was transferred by the secret 
treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800. 

France had claimed the country embracing the present Oklahoma because it 
was drained by the Red and Arkansas Rivers, both tributaries of the 
Mississippi River.  The Frenchman, La Salle had claimed all this land 
for Louis XIV and for France in 1682.  It was called Louisiana Territory 
in honor of the king.  The Spanish expeditions were mostly by horse and 
overland while the French followed the water courses.  The former were 
searching for gold as contrasted with the French in search of furs by 
trapping and trade with the Indians.

England, a third nation entered the picture.  She was more interested in 
settling it, than in the riches she might gain from it.  So permanent 
settlements were made along the Atlantic coast that rapidly spread 
westward.  When the colonies gained their independence from England 
through the Revolutionary War, the Choctaw sided with the colonies. The 
nation spread westward until by 1801, when Thomas Jefferson was 
president, it had crossed the mountains and reached the Mississippi 
River.  This was only a little more than 200 miles from Oklahoma.  

In 1803, the new United States of America made one of the biggest land 
deals of all times, when she purchased the territory west of the 
Mississippi known as the Louisiana Purchase for about four cents an 
acre.  All of Oklahoma with the exception of the panhandle was included 
in this purchase.  It contained 875,025 square miles.  The total cost 
$27,500,000 including principal interest and debts.  The purchase almost 
doubled the size of the United States.  Thirteen states emerged from it.  
Oklahoma was the last of the thirteen to become a state, to the surprise 
of everyone.  

In 1805, General Henry Deaborn, secretary of War, described a part of 
the land beginning at the mouth of the Red River and ascending the 
strea.  He mentioned miles of timber, cane and prairies on either side. 

Mexico, another nation laid claim to the former Spanish holdings when 
France ceded her land west of the Mississippi to Spain in 1763.  Mexico 
revolted from Spain in 1820, established her independence, set up an 
empire under Emperor Iturbide and in 1824 reorganized as a republic with 
a constitution.  When the boundary between old Spanish possessions and 
the United States was settled by the Treaty of 1819, southern Oklahoma 
lands were claimed by her and she placed her flag over the land.

Texas Revolutionists secured their independence from Mexico, established 
an independent Republic and asked for annexation to the United States.  
This took place in 1845, and the great territory of Texas became a part 
of the U.S., receiving the land west of the Mississippi River from 
France which the latter had acquired form Spain by the treaty of 
Ildefonso in 1800.  So through a series of transfers by treaty and 
purchase, the U.S. acquired the title to lands on which she settled the 
Indians.

Since the Choctaw were the ones who settled Bryan County and on east to 
the Arkansas River, this history will deal mostly with them, rather than 
the four tribes that came west about the same time.  Choctaw is the 
approved, anglicized form to the tribal name Chata (Chah'ta).  It seems 
to have been first applied to the tribe about the beginning of the 
eighteenth century and is found spelled in a number of different ways in 
historical records.  Some think the origin is from the Greek word Cate 
(pronounced Cha'te), meaning "red".  Also, it has been suggested that 
the name Choctaw is from the Spanish word Chato, meaning "flat", 
descriptive of the ancient tribal custom of flattening the forehead of 
male infants.

The Choctaw are the Muskhogean linguistic family.  Their language was 
the trade medium throughout the lower Mississippi region after the 
coming of the Europeans.  Their physique varies according to regional 
groups, but generally they are well proportioned and medium in heights, 
tending to be heavy-set in maturity.  They are generally intelligent and 
able and have proved themselves receptive to modern advancement, 
education and culture.  Their tribal characteristics were patience, 
diplomacy and great strength in defensive warfare.  They seldom engaged 
in expeditions of aggression outside their own country.  They were the 
agriculturists among the southeastern tribes.

Three early treaties made a vital difference to the Choctaws living in 
Mississippi.  Their home as well as their lifestyle, was eventually 
completely changed because of them.  These were the treaty of Doaks 
Stand, Miss., 1821, the Treaty of Washington, 1825 and the Treaty of 
Dancing Rabbit Creek, Miss., 1830.  Three principal chiefs of the 
Choctaw represented them when the first treaty was signed.  
Moshulatubbee,Apukshunnubbee, and Pushmataha.  The latter, because of 
his imposing personality, his knowledge of the west, his ability to 
express his thoughts well and other talents, was appointed by the 
Indians as their spokesman.  Because of his previous knowledge of 
western territory and its boundaries, he was able to make a shrewd deal 
with the government.

Because Pushmataha and his warriors had fought with General Andrew 
Jackson during the War of 1812, he was sent to negotiate with the 
Indians.  The government evidently hoped the friendship would make it 
easier for them to get their way.  But this didn't prove to be the case.  
When Jackson showed the chiefs his proposition for the exchange of their 
Mississippi lands for those in the west, Pushmataha showed him where his 
maps were wrong about the boundary lines.  Jackson couldn't believe his 
men could make such a mistake, but later Pushmataha was proved to be 
right.  He told Jackson he was well acquainted with the western country 
because he had hunted there often, having chased the Comanche and 
Wichita over endless plains, who, in turn chased him many times.  He 
drew a map on the ground with the handle of his pipe hatchet showing the 
territory boundaries as he knew them to be.  The section in contention 
was the dividing line between the Arkansas and the Indian Territory.  
Much of this region, although not a part of Arkansas, had already been 
settled by Whites, which Pushmataha knew.  Jackson promised that if this 
were true, he would see that they were removed.

To settle this mistake a meeting was called in Washington in 1825, hence 
the second treaty.  The journey was along hard one for the three aging 
chiefs.  Apukshunubbee died on the way, in Kentucky.  Robert Cole took 
his place.  In Washington the party was entertained lavishly.  The soft 
living proved the undoing of Pushmataha who had always lived a very 
simple life.  He fell a victim to the distressing malady of croup and 
died at the age of 58.  He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in 
Washington.  It was his request that the "big guns" be fired over his 
grave, which they were, three volleys of them.  One of the districts in 
SE Oklahoma was named to honor him.  Later a county was given that name 
also.  His nephew, Nitakechi, took his place.

These two treaties gave the Choctaw the entire southern half of 
Oklahoma.  The latter treaty, with the Cherokee Treaty of 1828, 
established the eastern boundary of the future state of Oklahoma.

The Doak Stand Treaty called for voluntary removal, so only a small 
number of Choctaw moved west.  A council was called to meet at Dancing 
Rabbit Creek, Miss. to make a treaty that would COMPEL them to move.  
The 1830 treaty resulted in the Indians agreeing to cede to the U.S. all 
their remaining land east of the Mississippi and leave as soon as 
possible.  They were given exclusive jurisdiction over their new lands, 
FOREVER.  Secretary John Eaton and John Coffee signed for the government 
while Greenwood LeFlore, Moshulatubbee and Nitakechi signed for their 
tribes.  The new grant extended west from the Arkansas boundary to the 
100th meridian, the western limit of the U.S. at that time.  The 
southern boundary was the Red River, the northern, the Arkansas and 
Canadian Rivers.  Provisions were made for a council house and schools.  
Certain gifts and traveling expenses were allowed.  Those who wanted to 
stay in Mississippi were given individual allotments of land and United 
States Citizenship to replace their tribal one.  Many Choctaw live there 
today.

The Indians had three years to dispose of any personal affairs before 
leaving.  So began the TRAIL OF TEARS.  Many of the old, young and 
disabled succumbed on the long journey west and even after arriving in 
their new homeland.  The western territory was shared by Choctaw and 
Chickasaw until a final settlement was made over the eastern boundary of 
the latter tribe at Doaksville, Nov. 4, 1854.  As Doaksville was the 
capital of the Choctaw Nation at that time, the General Council which 
was the ruling body of the Choctaw Nation, convened immediately 
afterwards.  On Nov. 5, 1854, the Council changed the name of Tiger 
Springs Kaunti to Blue County, named after the Blue River which was its 
principal stream.  (Further Organization of Counties in the Choctaw 
Nation by Muriel H. Wright, Chron. Of Okla. Vol. 8, p. 330.) 

When the Choctaw arrived in their new land, it was divided into three 
districts, named after the three principal chiefs who signed the Doak's 
Stand Treaty.  Each had a District Capital.  Moshulatubbee District was 
the northern part of the allotted land.  Gaines was its capital.  
Apukshunnubbee District was the southeastern part, with Alikchi as its 
capital.  Tuskahoma, the National capital was located in the NE part of 
this district.  Pushmataha District, which contained Bryan county, was 
in the Southwestern part of the Choctaw Nation with Mayhew, located in 
the south central section, as its capital.  This last district was 
divided into four kaunties, Shappaway Kaunti, (no English name), which 
literally means "to hold a flag in view", was located in the NE corner.  
A part of it became Atoka County.  The NE part of the district was Jacks 
Fork County (Chak Fak Kaunti) Even before the Doak's Stand Treaty in 
1820, a stream in this country was called Jacks Fork, evidently from 
some Frenchman who had located close to the Arkansas line.  This name 
appears on an Arkansas Territory map drawn by Thomas Muttall who made an 
expedition from Fort Smith down Poteau and Kiamichi Rivers to Red River 
in 1819.

A third county was Kiamichi, located in the extreme SE corner of the 
district.  It was bounded on the east by Kiamichi River from which it 
received its name, a French word meaning "a horned-screamer".  This is a 
species of water bird to which cranes, rails and their allies belong.

The fourth division was Koi Kulih Kaunti located in the SW corner of the 
district, later called Bryan County.  Koi means "panther" or tiger, 
which was the largest predatory animal to be found in early days 
throughout the wilder parts of I.T.  They inhabited areas where springs 
and water pools were available to deer, buffalo or wild horses.  It 
would lie on the limb of a tree or crouch near the water, waiting to 
leap upon its prey as it came to drink.  Kulih means "springs of water".  
It is assumed that this county was given its name from a spring within 
its boundary of that name.  In 1886 a new county, Jackson, was created 
from land organized under Blue and Kiamichi counties by the General 
Council.

The SW edge of the present Bryan County was also a part of the Chickasaw 
Nation after the treaty signed in Washington in 1855.  At first the 
entire part of Oklahoma belonged to the Choctaw.  After the main stream 
settled here the Chickasaw sent a delegation west, looking for suitable 
land in which to settle.  They wanted to settle among the Choctaw 
because they had many characteristics that were similar to theirs.  The 
Choctaw felt there was plenty of land for both tribes, so in 1837, the 
Doaksville Treaty was drawn up and signed by the U.S. government, 
Chickasaw, and Choctaw near Fort Towson, I.T.  The Chickasaw paid the 
Choctaw $530,000 for a joint interest in their Nations.  $30,000 cash 
was the first payment.  The remaining $500,000 was put in bonds which 
were a part of the sale price received for the Chickasaw's eastern 
lands.  Their part of the country was to be called the Chickasaw 
District.

They were to have equal rights in elections and organizations of the 
Choctaw Nation but later became dissatisfied, because there were more 
Choctaw than Chickasaw which resulted in all the principal chiefs being 
Choctaw.  The Chickasaw were unable to vote any of their men into 
office.  Finally a treaty was signed in Washington by the three parties 
involved to dissolve the first treaty.  The Chickasaw paid an additional 
$150,000 to the Choctaw to become a nation in their own right, having 
full power to make their own laws.

	The new nation was to the west of the Choctaw, bordered on the 
West by the 98th parallel and on the East by the 96th.  Her southern 
boundary was the Red River and her northern the South Canadian.  Fort 
Washita, Colbert, and Bloomfield Academy, all in the eastern part of 
Panola County, which was a part of the Chickasaw land, then became a 
part of Bryan County.

	Holmes Colbert, drafted the Chickasaw constitution in 1855, which 
is similar to that of the United States in some respects.  O'Beirne says 
of the happening: "It is such an extraordinary feat that, if we consider 
the age of the young man, (26), and his lack of legislative experience, 
the work would reflect credit on the skill and wisdom of the most 
matured mind."

	Another provision of the treaty of 1855 was with relation to the 
land owned by the two Nations west of the 98th parallel.   Small bands 
of Wichitas, Comanches and Kiowas claimed to have been living on this 
land for more than one hundred years, when the session was given to the 
Choctaw.  In order to let them remain there undisturbed, the U.S. 
Government leased the land from the two tribes paying the Choctaw 
$600,000 and the Chickasaw $200,000.  This area came to be called the 
"leased District" and was used as a home for tribes removed from the 
plains.

	Removal brought many problems to the Choctaw.  The large supply of 
hoes and plows which the government promised them didn't arrive until 
the springs of 1832.  Hunting and agriculture had always been important 
to them.  The second winter they were to receive kettles, wedges, 
grindstones, drawing knives, saws, blacksmith tools, etc, but they also 
were slow in arriving.  Agriculture had become increasingly more 
important as they had abandoned hunting while in Mississippi except for 
the "big hunts" West.  Their eastern land had fast become thickly 
populated with settlers from the east who turned the land more and more 
into agriculture, thus destroying acres and acres of wildlife refuges.  
One of their main crops there had been cotton, which they continued to 
raise in their new home.  Other crops were corn - one of their favorites 
- potatoes, peas, beans, pumpkins and melons.

	The rich bottom lands along the Red River were excellent for 
cotton raising.  In 1836 it was estimated there was an export of 500 
bales.  In spite of bad crops caused by droughts or floods, by 1841 the 
Nation could boast many large farms, three grist mills and cotton gins.  
The Prairies afforded fine pasturage for livestock.  Hogs grew fat on 
what they found in the woodland.  Wild fruit and berries were plentiful.  
The Indians used fish as one of their main meat dishes as the steams and 
rivers were full of them.  Different varieties of trees thrived 
everywhere, cottonwood, white, black and red oak, hackberry, walnut, 
ash, mulberry hickory and pecan trees were in abundance.  The uplands 
were covered with pine, hickory, blackjack and some red cedar.
	
	The Choctaw did not lack for laborers as they brought the custom 
of slave holding with them from Mississippi.  Even the poorest Indian 
usually owned a slave or two as this was a sign of prestige.  Even 
though interested in education for their own people, the Choctaw did not 
favor one for their slaves.  In fact the National Council passed a 
school law that no slaves nor child of a slave should be taught to read 
or write in any Choctaw school.  Also, since missionary and Indian alike 
favored slavery and subsequently sided with the South in the Civil War, 
the above law stated that any teacher or school official that was known 
to be in sympathy with the abolition movement was to be removed from 
their position.  Slavery was so approved that in the census of 1836, 
population figures showed that there were some 600 slaves among the 
Choctaw.  The wealthier Indians, many of them mixed-bloods, owned large 
plantations, using slaves as their main labor force.

	Homes and sheds were constructed from the abundance of timber 
according to personal likes.  The first ones were mostly of blackjack 
logs chinked with mud.  Floors were uncommon, but every home had a 
fireplace, and some type of carpet or skins were used on the dirt floor 
instead of wood.  As one old-timer put it, "We thought a floor without a 
skin or carpet of some kind of covering was a disgrace.  You may think 
that a tent or tepee was cold, but we always had the floor of it covered 
with some kind of blankets.  I remember the first stove I ever saw.  I 
thought the people would surely freeze for they could not see the fire.  
I thought the seeing of the fire was necessary to keep warm..."  (Grant 
Foreman, Pioneer Recollections, Chron. Of Okla. Vol. 18, Dec. 1940, Vol 
8 P. 392-93).  

	The dimensions of their homes, (mostly one-room) were usually 
fifteen foot square.  The wealthier often had two rooms connected by a 
hallway, with a porch that ran the length of the house.  Missionaries 
often helped erect these homes.  So far as was known, only one such home 
remained in 1954 in Bryan vicinity.  This was the C.C. Copland home at 
Gardners' mother. (1954) One of the historical land marks, the home of 
the Rev. Allen Wright, burned.  These houses followed very much the same 
pattern as the enclosed sketch of one built by Missionary Ebenezer 
Hotchkin and his son Henry.  Ebenezer, the grandson was born here in 
1869.  (He became President of Oklahoma Presbyterian College, Durant, at 
one time.) (Bits of History, Ebenezer Hotchkins, unpublished.)

	Furniture was nominal, mostly consisting of a stool or two, a 
pestle and mortar for grinding meal, baskets for hominy, a few pots and 
a pallet of skins for a bed in the corner.  The wealthier mixed bloods, 
who, generally speaking, were the political and economic leaders of the 
nation, owned more elaborate homes.  Some of them were several stories 
high, painted white and patterned after those of southern plantation 
aristocrats.  Yards were landscaped with large shade trees, and clusters 
of shubbery and flowers.  

	The long barns were put together with wooden pegs made of hickory 
instead of mails.  These were carefully whittled and rolled in wet 
flannel clothes and laid in hot ashes to season during the night.  No 
logs were laid until everything was ready, then the neighbors came in 
for the day and the barn was built with their help.  Clapboard shingles 
were put on the roof with pegs also.  

	Clothes were made form homespun cloth.  Many homes had a "loom 
house" with aunties (negroes), operating the looms.  Dyes were made from 
barks, herbs and berries.  Red oak bark made almost black dye, Bois 
d'arc bark made yellow and with copperus made what is known as khaki 
today.  Jet black was made from dried walnut hulls while the green ones 
made a reddish brown dye.  Poke berries made red.  Combinations of these 
made many different colors.

	The Civil War changed the lifestyle of the Choctaw for sometime 
afterwards.  Many of the beautiful homes were destroyed.  They sided 
with the Confederacy as their ties of kinship, church and trade had been 
with the South.  Choctaw troops were organized and served throughout the 
war in the Confederate army.  The war record of the Choctaw has always 
been notable.

	During the Revolutionary War, Choctaw warriors served on the side 
of the Americans under the command of Generals Washington, Morgan, Wayne 
and Sullivan.  In 1930, twenty of the old warriors who had served with 
General Wayne were pensioned for their military service by the United 
States.  Among them was Captain Tishomingo (not to be confused with the 
Chickasaw chief Tishomingo), who signed the treaty of 1830 moved to 
Oklahoma and died in 1841 near Eagletown in present McCurtain County.  
They sided with the U.S. from the very first in nearly every War the 
country was engaged in.  Joseph Oklahombi, a full blood from McCurtain 
County, saw service with the American forces World War I.  He was 
awarded the CROIX DE GUERRE and cited for exceptional bravery by the 
French government.  One of his many brave exploits consisted in his 
having rushed machine-gun nests, taking 171 Germans at one time.  
Enlisted men and officers of Choctaw descent were among those who have 
gallant and distinguished service in the American forces in World War 
II.

	During the Civil War, homes and property were destroyed.  Most of 
the Indians were destitute.  Many were killed in battle or died because 
of illness or lack of food.  Many of the poorer ones were ragged, 
wearing remnants of clothes they had worn before the war.  The wealthier 
were not much better off.  However after the war people were more 
neighborly, gathering together to rebuild homes, barns, and fences, as 
well as to help each other plant or cultivate crops.

	Life changed more and more after the 1860's.  Railroad 
construction helped to bring about many of these changes.  Increased 
white immigration also had a part in bringing about many changes.  
Effects of the great westward expansion of the U.S. as well as the need 
to reopen tribal schools and churches, to control trading activities and 
to develop the natural resources in the Nation, meant that earlier 
tribal laws written for a simple pastoral people had to be changed to 
deal with the ever increasing industrial organization.

	After the close of the war, a joint Choctaw-Chickasaw treaty was 
made in 1866, which reestablished the Choctaw Nation.  This document, 
along with other provisions, "gave detailed plans for the organization 
of all Indian tribes and nations living within the present boundaries of 
the state into a territorial government was never carried out, the name 
Oklahoma, became widely known and was adopted for Oklahoma Territory in 
1890 and for the 46th state several years later" (Guide to the Indian 
Tribes of Oklahoma, Muriel H. Wright, Oklahoma University Library).

	The Choctaw domain was held in common.  Any citizen of the nation 
had the right to make his home anywhere in the country.  He could fence 
the surrounding land for fields and pastures, "as long as it was no 
closer than a 'a hog-call', (about 1/4 miles).  They could not respass 
on the already fenced lands of another Choctaw.  Any citizen could sell 
his improvements such as houses, barns and fences, but could not sell 
the land.  If he abandoned the farm for a period fixed by law, usually 
three years, it reverted to public domain.  They paid no land taxes 
since they didn't own the land, so other sources of revenue for their 
government had to be found.  None of them were very successful.

	After the construction of the M.K.T. Railway through Choctaw 
territory in 1872, (which runs through the western part of Bryan County) 
and three other R.R.s, small towns sprang up along the tracks.  Among 
these were Caddo, Durant, Calera and Colbert, north and south R.R. The 
one running east and west had stations such as Blue, Bokchito, and 
Bennington, around which people began to settle.  This R.R. came to be 
known as the 'Frisco', although its official name is S.L. & S.F., St. 
Louis and San Francisco, neither of which it ever reached.  Some of the 
enterprising mixed blood Choctaw and some the intermarried white men 
brought their families to live in these towns, erected substantial 
residences and engaged in various businesses, trading stores, coal land, 
timer, stoney-quarrying, leasing, farming and ranching. Tenants were 
employed to work the farms.  As a result more white people from 
neighboring states moved into the Territory.  The larger the family the 
easier it was to become a tenant or lease a farm.  The whites paid 1/4 
cotton and 1/3 grain rent to the Indians.

	Well known trading centers in the Nation before 1850 were 
Eagletown, Doaksville, Skullyville (Choctaw Agency), Boggy Depot, 
Perryville, Tamaha, on the Arkansas River and Mayhew (district capital 
of Blue county)

	Prominent mixed blood families who conducted businesses or trading 
establishments at these places, generally in partnership with white 
traders from the states, were Folsom, Walker, McKinney, Perry, Jones, 
McCurtain, Turnbull, and Wall.  Some operated farms or plantations in 
the vicinity with Negro slave labor.  Robert M. Jones, the leading 
trader and wealthiest planter, before the Civil War, was the owner of 
nearly 500 Negroes, five plantations, and steamboats plying Red River to 
New Orleans.

	One large farm in the extreme western part Blue County was owned 
by Jonathan Nail of Nail's Crossing, which was one of the Butterfield's 
Overland Mail stops through the Choctaw Nation in 1858-62.  Joel Nail 
owned a large ranch west of Caddo.  He dealt in horses, mules and 
cattle.  "Each spring he hired a crew of cowboys and a trail cook, 
loaded the chuck wagon with supplies and a safe containing gold and 
silver - nobody would accept a check or paper money - and set out across 
southern Indian Territory.  Regular stops at small ranches netted a herd 
from two to three thousand steers which his riders delivered to shipping 
pens on the Katy in Caddo.  (Charles Harris, Red River Historical 
Review, Norman.)  The "Cattle King" of the Indian Territory, Wilson N. 
Jones, owned 17,000 acres of fenced land in the area between Caddo and 
Boggy River.  Besides cultivating about 550 acres of land he owned some 
5,000 head of cattle.

	Cowboys were first introduced to I.T. after 1866 in response to 
the phenomenal post-war surge in stock raising.  Cattle driven to the 
Missouri border for shipment to eastern markets would bring $40 a head.  
One of the principal cattle trails northward across I.T. was the East 
Shawnee Trail started at Colbert's Ferry on Red River, then north to 
Boggy Depot, to Baxter Spring, Kansas and terminated in Sedalia, 
Missouri Railhead.  Their pay was $30 a month and board.  The trail boss 
received $75.  A drover crew consisted of a trail boss, eight to 
eighteen riders, a cook, chuck wagon and a remuda containing an average 
of five mounts per rider.  Herds were usually from 1,500 to 3,000 head.  
Each animal had a brand to distinguish it from other herds.  Drivers 
pushed the herd from 20 to 30 miles a day.  The drive required about 
three months.

	Court days were important to Indians and whites alike.  Each 
county had a court town.  For a long time, Caddo was the Blue County 
seat and therefore the court town.  The courthouse was filled the first 
Monday of each month.  Courts attracted most citizens of the county 
whether they had any business there or not.  Sessions consisted mostly 
of selling stray cattle and settling estates of the deceased.

	Court day was also a time when bootleggers came and plied their 
trade.  These men were always trying to sell liquor to the Indians 
regardless of government laws forbidding any "strong water" to be sold 
in I.T.  It seemed that wherever the Indian settled, especially around 
Red River, there was always some white whiskey peddler ready to take 
advantage of him.  (The Indian government could not prosecute whites who 
where brought before U.S. courts.)  Congress had strict prohibition laws 
with reference to furnishing liquor to Indians anywhere, yet the peddler 
always seemed to find some way to get around them.  G.A. Crossett in "A 
Vanishing Race", Chron. Of Okla. Vol 4, P. 103, told about one 
bootlegger who really had no whiskey, on one such court day did not mind 
selling tea or coffee for the genuine article.  "He is said to have sold 
40 quarts of tea in fruit jars at $2.00 a quart."  He told of other 
instances when liquor was brought into forbidden country in gun barrels, 
in coffins, in vinegar bottles or in padded clothing.

When the Allotment Act of 1887 was passed by Congress foreshadowing the 
later creation of the Dawes Commission, the Choctaw were opposed to 
allotment of lands in severalty, the full blood being particularly 
bitter in their opposition.  The Commission, created in 1894, made 
little headway in treating with the Choctaw until the signing of an 
agreement at Atoka with representatives of the nation, April 23, 1897.  
This was known as the Atoka Agreement, which provided for allotment of 
land to every enrolled Choctaw and Chickasaw - man, woman, and child - 
to receive a fair and equitable share of land, its character, fertility 
and location to be taken into consideration.  Allotments were to remain 
untaxable for 21 years.  Later the Curtis Act was proposed by Congress 
who made an effort to pass it.  It was fiercely contested by the five 
Civilized Tribes who sent a delegation to Washington to protest it.  If 
it had passed without the attachment of the Atoka Agreement, it would 
have given complete domination to white settlers over the Indians in 
I.T.  However this was avoided by the combination of the two, which 
passes as the Curtis Act, Aug. 24, 1898.  The votes were counted in the 
presence of the three members of the Dawes Commission, Aug. 30 and was 
ratified by 798 votes. Green McCurtain, principal chief of the Choctaw 
Nation, and Robert M. Harris, governor of the Chickasaw Nation 
immediately issued proclamations declaring the Atoka Agreement in 
amended form as incorporated into the Curtis Act in full force and 
effect in the two Nations.  The Dawes Commission soon found that the 
affairs of the two Nations could not be satisfactorily administered and 
settled under the Atoka Agreement.  So another agreement, known as the 
Supplemental Agreement, was negotiated with representatives to the two 
nations, ratified by Congress, approved by the President, July 1, 1902, 
and by the tow Nations in special elections held Sept. 22, 1902.  The 
Agreement set forth the method of determining the citizenship rolls, the 
status of the Chickasaw freedmen, and the rights of persons to be 
enrolled as Mississippi Choctaw.  When the rolls were completed there 
were 19,097 Choctaws by blood and intermarriage and 5,994 Choctaw 
freedmen.  This was approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 1907, 
and a final correction made in 1914.

	The Curtis Act provided that the governments to the Five Civilized 
Tribes continue until March 6, 1906.  Through a joint resolution 
introduced in the U.S. Senate, Feb. 27, 1906, the date was extended to 
Mar. 27, 1907, for the Choctaw government.  The last elected members of 
the General Council before the Nation's government was dissolved 
continued to meet at irregular intervals until about 1916.

In July 1922, a large number of Choctaw, many of them full-bloods, met 
in a convention at Albion, in LeFlore County, to review tribal affairs 
and protest the long delays by the Indian Office in making settlements 
due the tribe in accordance with the above agreements.  To give more 
emphasis to tribal matters, the Choctaw Committee of five, which had 
been appointed at the meeting, openly declared itself in politics and 
showed strength in the Congressional elections in Oklahoma in 1926 and 
1928 to exert considerable influence on the administration of the Office 
of Indian Affairs.  This was the beginning of many drastic changes in 
the government's attitude towards Indian affairs.  The Wheeler-Howard 
Bill became a law on June 18, 1934.  A convention of far-reaching 
importance was held at Goodland Indian School near Hugo, June 5-8, 1934, 
in which a total of 168 appointed delegates attended.  The Convention 
was conducted under regular parliamentary law and order.  It devoted 
three full day and evening sessions to a review of Choctaw interests.  
Some achievements were the organization of an advisory Council of eleven 
Choctaw, election by the delegates present of the Principal Chief 
appointed by the President, recommendation for the purchase of taxable 
Choctaw lands for the landless members of the tribe, and suggestions 
that historic spots be marked and the old Council House near Tushkahoma 
be repaired as a monument in Choctaw History.

	"The Choctaw Advisory Council was organized immediately and met in 
annual and special sessions from Oct. 1924 to 1946.  Although without 
legislative power, its recommendations received consideration by the 
Indian Office and in Congress.  Thus it has promoted the welfare and 
honor of the Choctaw in Oklahoma.  Among its achievements were the 
establishment and erection of the Indian Hospital (general) at Talihina, 
the repair of the Choctaw Council House and the purchase of adjoining 
land for use in tribal education and welfare programs.

	"The establishment and the just settlement of Choctaw property in 
Oklahoma involving the education, welfare and advancement of this people 
have been the concern of many brilliant Choctaw during the period of 
more than 160 years, as well as of high officials in government 
departments and the Office of Indian Affairs and of nationally known 
attorneys.  Among the outstanding Choctaw leaders up to 1898 were 
Pushmataha, Moshulatubbee, Apuckshenubbee, Nitakechi, Captian, 
Tishomingo, United States Army veteran, (named in the treaty of Dancing 
Rabbit Creek, 1830,) David Folsom, Israel Folsom, Robert N. Jones, Peter 
P. Pitchlynn, Tandy Walker, Cornelius McCurtain and his three sons, 
(Jackson, Edmund and Green), Forbis Leflore, McKee King, Allen Wright, 
Cole Nelson, Coleman Cole, Jonathan Dwight, Joseph Dukes, and Jana 
Austin McCurtain.

	"Those historically prominent, from 1898-1948 were Benjamin F. 
Harrison, member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, legislator, 
(five terms), and state budget officer, 1923-35; Victor M. Locke, Jr., 
legislator and superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes Agency; Henry 
J. Bond, treasurer of Atoka County; Eliphalet N. Wright, M.D. president 
of the Indian Medical Association and Chairman of the Choctaw Committee, 
1922-29; Frank H. Wright, D.D. (Presbyterian, U.S.) evangelist and 
singer; Thomas J. Hunter, legislator and county judge, Choctaw County; 
Gabe E. Parker, member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and of 
the Committee to design the Great Seal of the state; William A. Durant, 
sergeant-at-arms in the Constitutional Convention, legislator and 
speaker of the house in its third session:  James Dyer, legislator, 
Edgar A. Moore, legislator; Lyman Moore, banker; Todd Downing, novelist; 
Thomas P. Howell M.D. physician and rancher; Wendell Long M.D. and LeRoy 
D. Long, M.D. physicians and surgeons, (note:  the Long brothers served 
in Caddo as Doctors around 1898 for a short time); Czarina C. Conlan, on 
the staff of the Oklahoma Historical Society for 20 years; Mary 
McAlester, prominent philanthropist and club woman of McAlester; and 
William Stigler, former Choctaw national attorney and a member of the 
U.S. Congress from the second District of Oklahoma (elected to his forth 
term, 1950."  (A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma, Muriel H. 
Wright.)

	Although there has been much tragedy, sorrow and problems 
connected with the removal of the Choctaw from their Mississippi home, 
there has also been a brighter side, which may, too often, have been 
ignored.  This could be summed up in the following quote by Allen 
Wright, who named Oklahoma, and was Principal Chief of the Choctaw 
Nation, 1866-70.  It is recorded in the "Report of Proceedings of the 
second General Council of the Presbyterian Alliance", which convened at 
Philadelphia, Sept. 1880.  Ebenezer Hotchkin Grandson of the first E. 
Hotchkin, placed a copy of it in his "Bits of History" unpublished.

	"The removal of our people in one respect at least, was a great 
benefit to them.  It was the means of breaking up many former pernicious 
habits and customs, as they were brought to a new state of things.  
There were many among our Nation who, having peculiar customs of their 
own, would not mingle with the rest, but when we reached the new country 
we all mixed together and formed new acquaintances and those having old 
habits forsook them and adopted better ones. So that now, today, (1880) 
the people are in a better condition in regard to worldly affairs than 
ever they were before."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by Clara Nash and Erma L. Taylor

"Pattie Davis did most of the typing for the Bryan County History Book.
Mary Etta Peters of Caddo was named winner of the director's contest of 
the Bryan County Heritage Association.  She turned in the most family 
history stories and sold the most orders for the book being published by 
the association."