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Le Flore County, Oklahoma

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Profiles

  • Pvt. Jessie M. Nichols, (CSA) (1825 - 1909)
    The son of Phoebe Gillam and Ransom Nichols, Sr., Jesse married 1st Demidu J. Patterson, and they had two children, Samuel Nichols, born ca.1856 in AR, and Phoebe Nichols, born ca. 1849 AR. These two c...
  • Arlissa Caroline Bates-Nichols (1834 - 1900)
    Arlissa Caroline was the daughter of Nancy Frazier and Elisha Barber. She married 1st Henry O. Bates. Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 Carroll County 26 Dec 1855 Henry O. Bate...
  • Charles Hobart Heald, (CSA) (1843 - 1922)
    Born: March 17, 1843 Died : January 30, 1922 Tombstone reads: FOUNDED THE TOWN OF HEALDTON IN 1877 SECRETARY OF HEALDTON LODGE NO. 23 A.F. & A.M. FOR A GREAT MANY YEARS HERE LIES A MASTER WORKMANThe Da...
  • Donnabell Tyler (1914 - 2001)

Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Le Flore County, Oklahoma.

History

The Choctaw Nation signed the Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, ceding part of their ancestral home in the Southeastern U. S. and receiving a large tract in Indian Territory. They signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, which ceded the remainder of their original homeland. Most of the remainder of the Choctaw were removed to Indian Territory, escorted by federal military troops, in several waves.

In 1832, the Federal Government constructed the Choctaw Agency in Indian Territory about 15 miles west of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The town of Skullyville developed around the agency. It was designated as county seat of Skullyville County, the capital of the Moshulatubbee District of which Skullyville County was a part, and the national capital of the Choctaw Nation.

The US Indian agents lived in the town. In the late 1850s, it was designated as a stage stop (Walker's Station) for the Butterfield Overland Mail route.

In 1834, the U. S. Army built Fort Coffee a few miles north of Skullyville, but reassigned the garrison after four years. The Methodist Church took over the facility, converting it for use as the Fort Coffee Academy for Boys, a missionary school. That church also established the New Hope Seminary for Girls in 1845, just east of town. In 1847, the Choctaw Agency burned and its functions were transferred to Fort Washita.

During the Civil War, the Choctaw allied with the Confederacy and many of their men served in its army. The Battle of Devil's Backbone was fought near the present town of Pocola on September 1, 1863. Union Major General James G. Blunt defeated Confederate Brigadier General William Cabell. Union troops burned the Fort Coffee Academy in 1863, because it was being used to house Confederate troops.

In 1866, the Choctaw government reopened New Hope Seminary, but never rebuilt a boys academy. New Hope Seminary operated until it burned in 1896. The first school for Choctaw freedmen opened at Boggy Depot. In 1892, the Tushkalusa (black warriors) Freedmen Boarding school opened three miles southeast of Talihina.

Prior to statehood, the area that became LeFlore County was part of Moshulatubbee and the Apukshunnubbee districts. Its present-day territory fell primarily within Nashoba, Skullyville, Sugar Loaf, and Wade counties, with small portions falling within Cedar and San Bois counties, in the Choctaw Nation.

Adjacent Counties

Cities, Towns & Communities

Arkoma | Big Cedar | Bokoshe | Cameron | Cowlington | Fanshawe (part) | Fort Coffee | Heavener | Hodgen | Howe | Le Flore | Milton | Monroe | Muse | Page | Panama | Pocola | Poteau (County Seat) | Rock Island | Shady Point | Skullyville | Spiro | Talihina | Whitesboro | Wister

Links

Wikipedia

Genealogy Trails

Ouachita National Forest (part)

Nat'l Reg. of Hist. Places