Boggy Depot, Oklahoma

Last updated

Boggy Depot Site
USA Oklahoma location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nearest city Atoka, Oklahoma
Coordinates 34°19′13″N96°18′51″W / 34.32028°N 96.31417°W / 34.32028; -96.31417
Built1838
NRHP reference No. 72001050 [1] [2]
Added to NRHPApril 19, 1972

Boggy Depot is a ghost town and Oklahoma State Park that was formerly a significant city in the Indian Territory. It grew as a vibrant and thriving town in present-day Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States, and became a major trading center on the Texas Road and the Butterfield Overland Mail route between Missouri and San Francisco. After the Civil War, when the MKT Railroad came through the area, it bypassed Boggy Depot and the town began a steady decline. It was soon replaced by Atoka as the chief city in the area. By the early 20th century, all that remained of the community was a sort of ghost town.

Contents

History

Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians founded the town in 1837. [3] The United States government had moved the Choctaws and Chickasaws to Indian Territory from Mississippi and Alabama in the 1830s. While at first the two tribes lived together on the Choctaw land, the Chickasaws later emigrated to the western portions of the Indian Territory and formed their own separate nation on land transferred to them by the Choctaw.

Boggy Depot was located in Atoka County, Choctaw Nation, a territorial-era government unit that included portions of today's Atoka, Coal, Hughes and Pittsburg counties.

In 1834, General Henry Leavenworth built the military road from Camp Washita (later Fort Washita) to Fort Gibson. For years this road served as a dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw lands. Afterwards a treaty created a formal dividing line between the nations, with Boggy Depot on the east side of the line in Choctaw lands. The Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury established the church in Boggy Depot in 1840. The church building was the temporary capitol of the Choctaw Nation in 1859. Boggy Depot received a post office in 1848, [lower-alpha 1] and in 1858 became a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage line. During the Civil War, a Union raiding party fought a Confederate group at the Battle of Middle Boggy Depot a few miles northeast of Boggy Depot, which had become the major supply depot in Indian Territory for the Confederates. [3] After the Civil War with Boggy Depot in the Choctaw Nation, many of the original settlers, mostly Chickasaws, abandoned Boggy Depot. A small community formed near this time two miles (3 km) south of Boggy Depot named New Boggy Depot. The former Boggy Depot post office was moved to the new location and renamed New Boggy Depot on March 22, 1872. It was renamed as Boggy Depot on December 26, 1883. [4] Choctaw Chief Allen Wright, who lived at Boggy Depot, coined the word 'Oklahoma' in 1866 to describe the Indian Territory. The name was officially used for the state in 1907. In 1869 Oklahoma's first Masonic Lodge was founded in Boggy Depot. [5]

As part of the treaty between the Five Civilized Tribes and the United States government at the end of the Civil War the tribes had to allow the construction of a north to south railroad across their lands. This railroad became a reality in 1872. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, or Katy, ran 12 miles (19 km) east of Boggy Depot and was the end of the town's importance. The city of Atoka, on the railroad, flourished while Boggy Depot languished and became a ghost town. [3] The Boggy Depot post office officially closed on July 31, 1934. [4]

Current status

Today little remains of the original town except for a few stone foundations and the cemetery. Choctaw Chief Allen Wright and the Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury are buried there. [3] Boggy Depot Park 34°19′14″N96°18′28″W / 34.32056°N 96.30778°W / 34.32056; -96.30778 , formerly known as Boggy Depot State Park, is a recreation area that commemorates the old town and the history of the area. The park gets its name from Clear Boggy Creek and from its use as a Confederate commissary depot during the Civil War. The park features a fishing lake, nature trail, baseball diamond, playground, picnic tables, group picnic shelters, charcoal grills, and comfort stations with showers. After the state announced that it would close the park as a budget-cutting measure, the Choctaw tribe took over ownership and management responsibilities. This is no longer a state park. Boggy Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#72001050) in 1972.

The Chickasaw nation was reluctant to spend its funds on major capital improvements unless it had clear title to the property. In 2013, the Oklahoma House of Representatives considered a bill to transfer ownership of the property to the Chickasaws. [6]

Media

Jerry Cantrell from the rock band Alice in Chains, named his first solo album Boggy Depot after the area where his father grew up. [7] The album cover shows Cantrell covered in mud standing waist-deep in a branch of the Boggy River. [7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Historian George H. Shirk wrote that the Boggy Depot post office was established November 5, 1849. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnston County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Johnston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,272. Its county seat is Tishomingo. It was established at statehood on November 16, 1907, and named for Douglas H. Johnston, a governor of the Chickasaw Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Bryan County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,067. Its county seat is Durant. It is the only county in the United States named for Democratic politician William Jennings Bryan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atoka County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,143. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief named Atoka. The county is part of Choctaw Nation reservation lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atoka, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

Atoka is a city in and the county seat of Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,107 at the 2010 census, an increase of 4.0 percent from the figure of 2,988 in 2000. As of 2021, the population has grown to 3,188.

The Butterfield Overland Mail in Indian Territory was part of the overall Butterfield Overland Mail service (1857–1861) created by Congress March 3, 1857. The route crossed Indian Territory from Colbert's Ferry to Fort Smith, Arkansas which was the Center for the Overland Mail's' 7th Division. Fort Smith was also the junction point of the south bound coaches with the Memphis mail and its passengers. From Fort Smith the 7th Division route crossed the Poteau River into Indian Territory into the Choctaw Nation at Skullyville and left the Chickasaw Nation at Colbert's Ferry into Texas. There were 12 stage stations in Indian Territory, located from 13 to 19 miles (31 km) apart. The total length of the route across the territory was approximately 197 miles (317 km). The Butterfield route met with the Texas Road near Geary's Station and followed it southward to the Red River.

Geary's Station was a stage stand on the old Butterfield Overland Mail route in Indian Territory. Sometimes called Geary's Crossing, it was located on the east side of Little Boggy Creek in what is now Atoka County, Oklahoma. It was operated by A.W. Geary, an inter-married Choctaw. His wife Lucy was the sister of a Choctaw chief. The Choctaw Nation had awarded Geary the privilege of building a bridge and tollgate at the Little Boggy crossing on the Fort Smith-Boggy Depot Road in 1858, which later became the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail stage.

Chahta Tamaha served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation from 1863 to 1883 in Indian Territory. The town developed initially around the Armstrong Academy, which was operated by Protestant religious missionaries from 1844 to 1861 to serve Choctaw boys. After the capital was relocated to another town, this community declined.

The Battle of Middle Boggy, also known as the 'Battle of Middle Boggy River or Battle of Middle Boggy Depot, took place on February 13, 1864 in Choctaw Indian Territory, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of what is now Allen in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. Advancing down the Dragoon Trail toward Fort Washita, Union Colonel William A. Phillips sent out an advance of approximately 350 men from the 14th Kansas Cavalry and two howitzers to attack a Confederate outpost guarding the Trail's crossing of Middle Boggy River. The Confederate force was led by Captain Jonathan Nail and composed of one company of the First Choctaw and Chickasaw Cavalry, a detachment of the 20th Texas Cavalry and part of the Seminole Battalion of Mounted Rifles. The outpost was about 12 miles (19 km) from Muddy Boggy Depot, which was held by the Confederates. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture says that the battlefield was 15 miles northeast of the depot, whereas the battlefield marker says the distance was 12 miles. The Confederate force at the outpost, consisting of 90 poorly armed men, were caught off guard when Willetts attacked them. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Confederates held off the Union cavalry attack for approximately 30 minutes before retreating to the rest of Lt. Col. John Jumper's Seminole Battalion, who were not at the main skirmish. The Confederates retreated 45 miles (72 km) southwest down the Dragoon Trail. The Union advance continued south toward Ft. Washita the next day, but when the expected reinforcements did not arrive Philips' Expedition into Indian Territory stalled on February 15, near old Stonewall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Wright</span>

Allen Wright was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was very active in the Choctaw government, holding several elected positions. He has been credited with the name Oklahoma for the land that would become the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Washita</span> United States historic place

Fort Washita is the former United States military post and National Historic Landmark located in Durant, Oklahoma on SH 199. Established in 1842 by General Zachary Taylor to protect citizens of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations from the Plains Indians, it was later abandoned by Federal forces at the beginning of the American Civil War. Confederate troops held the post until the end of the war when they burned the remaining structures. It was never reoccupied by the United States military. After years in private hands the Oklahoma Historical Society bought the fort grounds in 1962 and restored the site. Today, the Fort Washita Historic Site and Museum is a tourist attraction and hosts several events throughout the year, and it is jointly managed by the Chickasaw Nation and the Oklahoma Historical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Territory in the American Civil War</span> U.S. state of Oklahoma during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, most of what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma was designated as the Indian Territory. It served as an unorganized region that had been set aside specifically for Native American tribes and was occupied mostly by tribes which had been removed from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. As part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Indian Territory was the scene of numerous skirmishes and seven officially recognized battles involving both Native American units allied with the Confederate States of America and Native Americans loyal to the United States government, as well as other Union and Confederate troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Arbuckle (Oklahoma)</span> United States historic place

Fort Arbuckle was constructed by the US Army in 1850 to counter raids by Plains Indian tribes on immigrant trains heading west to California and on the settlements of Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in Indian Territory.

Muddy Boggy Creek, also known as the Muddy Boggy River, is a 175-mile-long (282 km) river in south central Oklahoma. The stream headwaters arise just east of Ada in Pontotoc County. It is a major tributary of the Red River in south central Oklahoma. Clear Boggy Creek is a major tributary which enters the Muddy Boggy at a location known as River Mile 24 in Choctaw County. The river is inhabited by over one hundred species of fish.

Blue County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation’s Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative super-regions.

The First Oil Well in Oklahoma was drilled in 1885 in Atoka County, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, though it was not completed until 1888.

The Battle of Perryville was a battle of the American Civil War on August 23, 1863, in what is now Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.

Muriel Hazel Wright was an American teacher, historian and writer on the Choctaw Nation. A native of Indian Territory, she was the daughter of mixed-blood Choctaw physician Eliphalet Wright and the granddaughter of the Choctaw chief Allen Wright. She wrote several books about Oklahoma and was unofficially called "Historian of Oklahoma". She also was very active in the Oklahoma Historical Society and served as editor of the Chronicles of Oklahoma from 1955 to 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atoka County, Choctaw Nation</span> Former political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation

Atoka County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative and judicial provinces called districts.

Tobucksy County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma becoming a state. It was part of the Moshulatubbee District, or First District, one of three administrative super-regions.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office Archived June 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 4 May, Jon D., "Boggy Depot Archived January 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ," May, Jon D. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Archived May 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (accessed June 18, 2010).
  4. 1 2 3 [Shirk, George H., Oklahoma Place Names. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma., p. 27. ISBN   0-8061-2028-2. 1974] Accessed March 25, 2016.
  5. ↑ Griffin, Andrew W. "Boggy Depot: From flourishing town to ghost town to park." Red Dirt Report. October 24, 2015. Accessed March 30, 2016.
  6. ↑ "House passes chemotherapy, Boggy Depot State Park transfer measures." Krehbiel, Randy. Tulsa World. September 24, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Stout, Gene (October 30, 1998). "Jerry Depot - Cantrell seeks out a solo identity on first tour away from Alice". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2018.

Further reading

Butterfield Overland Mail in Indian Territory
Next station West
Nail's Station 		17
miles		Boggy Depot, Oklahoma16
miles		Next station East
Geary's Station
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.