Everything Fort Towson is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Fort Towson.
In memory of Robert Hamilton - a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence - March 2, 1836 - Born in Blevard, Scotland - March 24, 1783 - Died in Red River County, Texas - 1843
Alamo defender Jesse B. Bowman was born in Tennessee about 1785. By 1811 he was living in Illinois where his son Joseph T. Bowman was born that year. Bowman and his family settled in Ouichita County, Arkansas, until it became more populated and they moved to Hempstead County. In the 1830s Jesse B. Bowman and his family moved with his brother and other family members to this area of Texas, where they soon qualified for a league and labor of land. On February 23, 1836, Bowman answered the roll call at the Alamo garrison in Bexar. He was listed as a private and permanent volunteer under the command of Jim Bowie. On March 6, Jesse Bowman lost his life at the fall of the Alamo. His body and those of the other Alamo defenders were burned by the Mexican Army under General Santa Anna. (1999)
(About a half mile NW was 19th century town) One of first ports of entry into Texas for Anglo-Americans. Opened early as 1814; heavily used by 1817. Named for 1819-21 ferry owner Henry Jones (1789-1861). Claimed by both Mexico and the United States, town was 1828-37 county seat of Miller County, Ark. Community had 2,350 people by 1834. At this crossing Sam Houston (1832) and David Crockett (1835) entered Texas. A well-known road led southeastward to other colonies by way of Nacogdoches. In 1836, Clarksville became Red River District's capital. By 1840 Jonesboro had lots its trade and many settlers to other areas.
Near here at the Old Jonesboro Crossing, Sam Houston, an envoy of President Andrew Jackson first set foot on Texas soil, December 2, 1832.
Legend tells of French and Spanish forts before the families of J. W. G. Pierson, Luke and John Roberts, and the Mason brothers settled here in 1820. Within a year, in the absence of the men, women, children and slaves were victims of an Indian raid. Five of the men pursued, but outnumbered, they too were killed. Be silent, friend! Here heroes died to blaze a trail for other men. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
In this vicinity archeologists have located a large village and ceremonial center occupied between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1700 by ancestors of the Caddo Indians. Sedentary farmers, the Caddos built villages and farms on alluvial terraces of the Red River. Evidence from the site has revealed a number of scattered farmsteads and two earthen mounds which served as religious or ceremonial centers. The site also has yielded Caddo ceramics, plus glass beads, and metal weapons and tools, indicating the tribes in this area traded with European explorers.
36 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here is the site of Fort Towson. Established in 1824, this wasn't just any old army post. It was a crucial fortification on the border with Mexico, meant to keep the…
You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here is the site of Doaksville, once the principal town of the Choctaw Nation. Founded between 1824 and 1831 by Josiah Doak and his brother, this settlement quickly grew…
You're driving through what was once the heart of Chickasaw territory, near Fort Towson. Right here, George Colbert, a mixed-blood Chickasaw leader, wielded immense power. He was a colonel who fought alongside George…
You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here is Fort Towson. This town owes its existence to a railroad and a good spring. Back in 1902, a group of men wanted a new townsite near the old fort. They found the…
Imagine life on the edge of civilization. That's exactly what Fort Towson was: a crucial outpost on the Permanent Indian Frontier. Established in 1824, Fort Towson served multiple purposes. It was a military post, a…
You're driving past Swink, Oklahoma, and right here, beneath your wheels, lies the forgotten wreck of the steamboat Heroine. Built in 1832, the Heroine was one of the first steamboats to brave the newly cleared Red…
You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here is the story of Swink. Founded by David Randall Swink, who married into the Choctaw Nation, the town's first site had a problem: the land belonged to his young son,…
You're driving past Sawyer, Oklahoma, a town with a name that changed more than once! It started as Gilbert in 1902, named by its first postmaster after his son. But by 1903, it was renamed Sawyer, honoring an attorney…
Pull over here for a moment and let's reflect on the complex history beneath our feet. This is Rose Hill Plantation, a place that speaks to both the prosperity and the profound injustices of the pre-Civil War South.…
In memory of Robert Hamilton - a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence - March 2, 1836 - Born in Blevard, Scotland - March 24, 1783 - Died in Red River County, Texas - 1843
Alamo defender Jesse B. Bowman was born in Tennessee about 1785. By 1811 he was living in Illinois where his son Joseph T. Bowman was born that year. Bowman and his family settled in Ouichita County, Arkansas, until it…
(About a half mile NW was 19th century town) One of first ports of entry into Texas for Anglo-Americans. Opened early as 1814; heavily used by 1817. Named for 1819-21 ferry owner Henry Jones (1789-1861). Claimed by both…
Near here at the Old Jonesboro Crossing, Sam Houston, an envoy of President Andrew Jackson first set foot on Texas soil, December 2, 1832.
You're driving through Red River County, passing the final resting place of Jane Chandler Gill. Born in England in 1782, she came to Texas and settled in Jonesboro. Sadly, her time here was short. Jane died in 1816, not…
You're driving through Valliant, Oklahoma, and right nearby is a piece of history unique to the entire Indian Territory. Just outside of town once stood the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial Academy, a boarding school founded…
Right here, you're driving past the legacy of the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company. In 1910, they chartered the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary. This line, starting at Valliant and reaching…
Legend tells of French and Spanish forts before the families of J. W. G. Pierson, Luke and John Roberts, and the Mason brothers settled here in 1820. Within a year, in the absence of the men, women, children and slaves…
In this vicinity archeologists have located a large village and ceremonial center occupied between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1700 by ancestors of the Caddo Indians. Sedentary farmers, the Caddos built villages and farms on…
You're rolling through Hugo, Oklahoma, and you might just hear the echoes of the oldest bluegrass festival west of the Mississippi! Right here, the Bill Grant Bluegrass Festival kicked off in August 1969. It started…
Right here in Hugo, you're driving through the winter home of the circus! Since 1942, this town has been the chosen spot for circuses to escape the cold and prep for the spring season. Fifteen different circuses have…
You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here, in what's now Hugo, was once the heart of the Choctaw Nation's most important trading center: Doaksville. Established in 1824, Fort Towson was the second oldest…
You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, maybe not far from Hugo. Right here, in the mid-1800s, lived Robert M. Jones, a powerful Choctaw leader, planter, and entrepreneur. He owned thousands of acres and was the…
Right here in Rattan, Oklahoma, a story of history came alive thanks to some bright elementary school students. Back in 1997, their class project focused on four Royal Air Force cadets who tragically died in training…
You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, not far from Millerton. Right here, you're passing the site of the Wheelock Church, built between 1844 and 1846. This isn't just any old building; it's the oldest church…
You're driving through Millerton, a town that owes its existence to two things: timber and trains. Right here, in the early 1900s, was a booming hardwood sawmill town. It started as a place called Chula, but in 1902,…
You're driving past Grant, Oklahoma, right in Choctaw County. This town has roots going back to around 1885 when Basil Gooding opened a store here. But what's really interesting is what happened in 1904. Right here, on…
You're driving through McCurtain County, not far from Wright City, where Joseph Oklahombi, a full-blood Choctaw, became a World War I hero. He was one of the original "Code Talkers," using his native tongue to relay…
You're driving through McCurtain County, passing a place that was once the heart of a massive timber empire. Back in 1906, the Dierks brothers, already successful in the lumber business, arrived here. They established…
You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, a region once covered in millions of acres of virgin pine. Right here, in McCurtain County, the Dierks brothers, pioneers of the lumber industry, established a major…
You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, the land of towering pines and a history deeply rooted in the timber industry. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, companies like the Dierks brothers' Choctaw Lumber…
You're driving through Wright City, Oklahoma, a town with a name that changed with the times. It started as Bismark around 1909, named by the Dierks Lumber Company after a town where they used to do business in…
You're driving through what was once the heart of the Choctaw Nation, and right here is where Cyrus Kingsbury spent the last decades of his life. Known as the 'Father of the Missions,' Kingsbury dedicated over six…
You're driving through Oklahoma, and right here, the ground beneath your feet has been a source of wealth for centuries! Long before settlers arrived, Native Americans quarried flint and dug for minerals like hematite.…
Pull over here a sec, you're not gonna believe this. This is the oldest surviving church in Oklahoma! It's called Wheelock Church. Back in the 1840s, the Choctaw Nation was re-establishing itself here after being forced…
Pull over here for a minute; this unassuming spot was once a beacon of hope and education for young Choctaw women. Wheelock Academy began as a missionary school for Choctaw girls in 1832. Reverend Alfred Wright and his…
You're driving through Clarksville, near Tuggle Springs Cemetery. Established around 1850 by farmer Andrew Jackson Tuggle, it officially became a burial ground in 1864 when a mother and infant died. The cemetery, named…