History

Fort Towson, established May 1824 as a frontier outpost, is the home of several sites of historic significance.  This outpost was named for General Nathan Towson who was a hero of the War of 1812. In 1902, it was then established as a town after the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway had reached Eastern Choctaw County.

"Abandoned and burned in 1829, the fort was reestablished in 1831. Choctaw Indian removal to Indian Territory and instability in U.S. relations with Mexico gave Towson considerable importance through the 1840's. The fort was decommissioned in 1854 but served as a Confederate command post during the Civil War.

General Stand Watie, last Confederate general to surrender, laid down his arms on June 23, 1865, at Doaksville." - www.okhistory.org

"General Stand Watie, last Confederate general to surrender, laid down his arms on June 23, 1865, at Doaksville." - www.okhistory.org

"Stand Watie, also known as Standhope Uwatie, Tawkertawker and Isaac S. Watie — was a leader of the Cherokee Nation and the only Native American to attain a general's rank in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. " - Wikipedia

"Doaksville Archaeological Site: During the Indian Removal in the 1830's, Josiah Doak's 1820's trading post was the destination for Choctaws arriving in their new Indian Territory lands. Doaksville grew into the largest town and commercial center in the Choctaw Nation.

By the late 1830's, wagons on the Fort Towson supply roads and steamboats on the Red River supplied Doaksville with commercial goods and transported agricultural products to market. In the 1840's and 1850's, the town had more than thirty buildings, with stores, jail, school, hotel and two newspapers. Doaksville was the Choctaw Nation's capitol by 1850.

Doaksville began to decline with the 1854 abandonment of Fort Towson. On June 23, 1865, the last Confederate General, Stand Watie, surrendered his Indian Brigade to Union forces near Doaksville." - Fort Towson Historic Society