Doaksville Timeline

1821

Doaksville trading post established by Josiah Doaks near the Red River.

1824

Josiah Doaks moved trading post to a site one mile west of newly established Fort Towson.

1831

Doaksville was an important destination for Choctaws arriving in Indian Territory. Commerce grew with the establishment of the roads built to supply Fort Towson.

1837

Treaty of Doaksville is signed allowing the Chickasaws to lease the westernmost portion of the Choctaw Nation for settlement.

1838

Henry Shreve cleared path through the lower Red River logjam known as “The Great Raft”. Upper river region opened to steamboat traffic. Steamboats brought goods and supplies from New Orleans to a public landing on Kiamiachi and Red River. The goods were sold at stores in Doaksville. The steamboats transported agriculture products out of the region to locations on the lower Red River.

1840 – 1850

With its location and Fort Towson nearby for protection, Doaksville became the largest town in Indian Territory and the commercial center of the Choctaw Nation. At its height, the town boasted more than thirty buildings including stores, a jail, school, hotel and a newspaper (Choctaw Intelligencer) printed in both Choctaw and English.

1850

By this time Doaksville had become the center of government for the Choctaw Nation.

1854

With the abandonment of Fort Towson, Doaksville began to decline.

1855

An agreement between the U.S. government, the Choctaws and the Chickasaws allowed the purchase of the western portion of the Choctaw Nation. It created a separate district for the Chickasaw people.

1859

The Choctaws move their capitol west to Mayhew Mission and then to the present location at Tuskahoma.

1865

On June 23, 1865, the last Confederate general, Stand Watie, surrendered his Indian Brigade to Union forces near Doaksville.

1870

The Civil War in Indian Territory devastated the region’s plantation-based economy, and the town continued to decline. In 1870, the railroad was built one mile south. The town moved to the railroad, and the new town of Fort Towson took Doaksville’s place.