Snippets from Ft. Gibson: Gateway to the West (3)

Ft. Gibson

Gateway to the West

Muskogee Publishing Company, Muskogee, OK 74401

This book is out of print. If the item is complete I will note <complete> otherwise what I have is snippets of information. If you are interested in the whole article you may order copies.

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... Dr. Emmet Starr in A History of the Cherokees tells of futile attempt to gain wealth. The group [who went to CA] included William Longknife, his wife, Barbara Hilderbrand Longknife, George Brewer, James Vann, Martin Schimscher, and Return Jonathan Meigs. ... Return Johnathan Meigs died on the way and a baby girl, Mary Jane, was born to Mr and Mrs Longknife. Pg 56

The Cherokee Advocate of Jan 7, 1850 reported the following: "Residence of John Drew, three miles from Ft. Gibson entirely consumed by fire last Wednesday night, everything in the house consumed." There was an indication that it was arson and associated to the siege of crime sweeping the county. Pg 56 <complete>

General Matthew Arbuckle [first commander of Ft. Gibson] died of cholera Jun 11, 1851. Ft. Arbuckle was named for him on June 25th, two weeks after his death. He had not been well for some time, even being relieved of active duty and went to Hot Springs in an effort to bolster his health, but eventually life came to an end. He was buried on his plantation south of Ft. Smith. Pg 56 <complete>

Cherokee Agent Bulter moved the Cherokee Agency in 1851 from the location selected by Governor Montfort Stokes "six or seven miles east of Ft. Gibson to a new location three miles northwest of Tahlequah in a high and heathful country". Pg 56 <complete>

The Creek Agency was also moved in 1851 from its location in the vicinity of Three Forks to the area of Fern Mountain. The settlement around this agency became the forerunner of Muskogee, established in 1872.

Florian H Nash came to Ft. Gibson in 1853. He had been clerking in the store of William P Denckla, who was succeed by Shaw and Laningan. Mr. Nash worked hard, learning the mercantile business form his employers and bought them out in 1863. Thus we have a connection between the old and new, for F H Nash was to be dominant in the affairs of Ft. Gibson for many years, coming on down to relatively modern times. Pg 57 <complete> [long article follows Reminiscing of F H Nash pgs 57 & 58]

The rebuilding of Ft. Gibson was greatly hindered by "the disastrous fire of 1854" as related by Grant Foreman. It seems that many of the original buildings as well as some of those recently constructed were destroyed. Pg 58 <complete>

Agitation continued from the Cherokees that Ft Gibson be abandoned. Various escapades of the soldiers, along with the diminishing need for a fort in this area because of the establishment of the western forts and the peaceful situation among the Indians caused an order to be issued by the War Department to abandon Ft. Gibson Jun 8, 1857. Another consideration that increased the pressure for abandonment was the desire on the part of the Cherokees to have access to the boat landing included in the fort site. Pg 59 <complete> The buildings of the fort and the reservation were turned over to the Cherokee Nation, and the Cherokee Council passed an act Nov 6, 1857 creating the Town of Kee-Too-Wah and providing for the sale of lots within the town to Cherokee citizens. Agent Butler moved the Cherokee Capital to Kee-Too-Wah in 1857, and it looked as if the new Town of Kee-Too-Wah was to replace Tahlequah as the center of cherokee affairs. The War Between the States brought this to an end, however. Pg 60 <complete>

The Ft Smith Herald of Nov 2, 1857 reported that another mail rider on the route from Ft. Gibson to Ft. Washita was killed. The article stated that he was found with three bullet holes through his body, stabbed twice, and his throat cut and that this was the second mail rider killed on this route within the past two weeks. Pg 59 <complete

Soldiers at Ft. Gibson showed the compassion they have been famous for on many occasions. George Washington Hill was orphaned when his widowed mother died, and he as a mere boy was left to fend for himself. The soldiers of Ft. Gibson adopted him as their mascot and literally raised him. He grew up without formal education, but his wife, Lucy Grayson, the daughter of William Grayson, a prominent Creek, educated him to the extent that he was prosecuting attorney for the Creeks, representing his tribe in Washington on numerous occasions. He served in both the House of Kings and the House of Warriors, was a member of the Lighthorse, and was the Principal Chief of the Creeks, and was a Methodist minister. Pg 60 <complete>

Major Joseph L Martin, son of John Martin, the first Chief Justice of the first Supreme Court instituted in the Cherokee Nation, as well as his 17 year old son, Richard fought in both battles of Cabin Creek. Joseph had been born in New Echota, Georgia Aug 20, 1820 and came to Ft. Gibson with his famous father in 1828. He was called "Little Joe" at the time. He married Julia Lombard in 1840 and moved to what is now Mayes and Craig counties. Pg 70

Corporal Allen Lynch of the 79th Colored Infantry (USA) .... died in 1933 ... 109 years of age. Pg 71

Near Ft. Gibson ... One of the wounded was Jesse James. He had been with Quantrill since the Lawrence raid and had built quite a reputation as a killer. Left for dead, James crawled to a nearby farm where he was found and nursed back to health by John A Rudd. Pg 72

Joshua Ross, a nephew of Chief John Ross, was a clerk for the sulter at Ft. Gibson during the Civil War. Pg 73

.... Major James A Foreman, prominent in early Muskogee, as he was the first mayor (before incorporation), ran a grist mill, using a Holland type windmill, and was the first president of the Indian International Fair. ... Cabin Creek was high at the time of the fight, and the first Colored soldiers to be in the fight charged through the water up to their necks, holding guns over their heads and firing. That settled the question so often discussed as to whether Colored troops would fight, many declaring they never would. Pg 74

Major A W Robb, to be one of Muskogee's most prominent citizens was quartermaster at Ft. Gibson during the Civil War. ... His daughter Jessie, was the first white child to be born in Muskogee. Pg 74

E D Hicks, who was to have the distinction of being the moving force of bringing the telephone to Indian Territory, was born near Ft. Gibson in 1866. Pg 74

Thomas O'Bryan ... editor ... The Cherokee Tomahawk [quote from his paper dated Mar 13, 1865] pg 74

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