Historical Marker Program

Transportation Crossroads

Choctaw County
Location: on grounds of Fort Towson Historic Site
Coordinates: 34.027844, -95.257116
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Folklife; Military; Settlement Patterns; Social/Cultural; Transportation

During the early 1800s, present southeastern Oklahoma was a major transportation crossroads. Roads connected Fort Towson in the Choctaw Nation to military installations to the north, south, and west. On the Texas side of the Red River, Jonesboro was a major entry point for thousands headed for Austin's Colony and other settlements in Texas. Along these routes traveled such notable persons as General Zachary Taylor, Sam Houston, David Crockett, Jefferson Davis, and Benjamin Milan.