Historical Marker Program

Fort Towson Landing

Choctaw County
Location: on US-70 at east edge of Fort Towson
Coordinates: 34.017682, -95.254016
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Indian and Frontier Trade; Industry/Business; Retail; Transportation

The Fort Towson Landing was south of here on the banks of the Red River. Also known as the Public Landing, it served as a receiving point for soldiers and supplies delivered by keelboats and steamboats from 1824 to 1854. Traders at the Choctaw settlement of Doaksville and local planters received goods and transported cotton to New Orleans. The cotton went to textile mills in Great Britain and the eastern United States helping to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Commercial navigation on the Upper Red River continued until the early 1900s when railroads surpassed it an as economical mode of transportation.

Note: This marker was reported damaged.