Pierre Durant

In December of 1844 Pierre, his father Louis, and brothers left Mississippi following the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory. Pierre's married sons and their wives and children had all signed up for land in Mississippi, and the total Durant holdings exceeded 7,000 acres. This did not set well with the white settlers who were taking over the lands and homes of the Choctaws who left for Indian Territory. The Durants and hundreds of other Choctaws were never paid for their lands in Mississippi that the US Government had promised. Only 69 claims out of thousands were ever paid.

Their journey is documented n the notes of Pierre Durant as recorded for history by his descendent, Randle Durant. The Durants had eight wagons and teams of horses that the whole family shared.

Some of Pierre's sons liked the area around Sculleyville which is near Poteau, Ok. and settled there. Pierre and the rest of the family headed for Horse Prairie (2 miles northeast of present Hugo, Ok. There the game was plentiful consisting of deer, wild turkey, bear, and other small game. At times buffalo could be seen in the distance, but disappeared within ten years. They continued on to Pigeon Roost which is near Bennington, Ok. where they met up with old friends, and settled, an end to their long journey.

Pierre had 7 sons and 3 daughters. Fisher, the oldest son, had 3 sons. Fisher's oldest son, Dixon D. Durant, had the honor of the town of Durant, Oklahoma being named after him.

Fought in war of 1812. !WAR: Crowder Dates; 1619-1900; Crowder File; Bryant Co. OK Heritage Library;

     copy owned by William J. Black.* Updated from [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:a11318&i... RootsWeb's WorldConnect] via son [Fisher Durant Fisher Durant] by [http://www.geni.com/projects/SmartCopy/18783 SmartCopy]: ''Mar 8 2015, 3:30:43 UTC''

• Updated from RootsWeb's WorldConnect via daughter Monette Durant by SmartCopy: Feb 24 2015, 19:10:29 UTC