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24-568: Fort Towson was established in May 1824, under Col. Matthew Arbuckle , on the southern edge of Indian Territory to guard the border with Spanish colonial territory to the south. It was named for Nathaniel Towson , Paymaster General of the Army. It was originally called "Cantonment Towson." A military trace was constructed in the 1820s as a wagon trail to connect the fort to other military forts in Arkansas. The fort

48-528: The 7th Infantry Regiment , four of whose companies he led in 1821 to reinforce Fort Smith on the Arkansas River . In 1824, he moved the regiment farther west, establishing Cantonments (later Forts) Gibson and later Towson , the first military posts in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). As commander at Fort Gibson, he was responsible for constructing roads and maintaining peaceful relations between

72-822: The Mexican–American War . In 1848, he was posted to Fort Smith as commander of the newly created Seventh Military District. In 1849, his troops began to provide security for Americans active in the California Gold Rush on the southwestern route to California, which he established south of the Canadian River . The same year, Taylor, having been elected president, urged the War Department to close Fort Smith and retire Arbuckle. Taylor died before this could be accomplished. Arbuckle's superiors immediately confirmed his command and re-designated Fort Smith as headquarters of

96-659: The Ohio territory . He is considered likely to have been the first white person to travel through Virginia all the way to the Ohio River , other than as a prisoner of the Indians. This trapping and trading trip may have occurred around 1764. Arbuckle was born in Augusta (now Botetourt) County , Virginia. He served in the Augusta County militia in 1758 and '59. He was the first white man to travel

120-601: The Congress disbanded the 3rd Infantry and transferred him to the 2nd Infantry Regiment , where he was promoted to captain in 1806. He returned to the 3rd Infantry as a major in 1812. His regiment was assigned to various posts in the American South during the War of 1812 . In 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became the regiment's second-ranking officer. The 3rd Infantry was under General Andrew Jackson during and after

144-543: The Department of War recalled Brigadier General Arbuckle to command Fort Gibson. During the Texas Revolution of 1835–1836, the majority of his troops were reassigned to General Zachary Taylor 's " Army of Observation " at Fort Jessup , Louisiana , but Arbuckle managed to maintain order even as the pace of Indian removal accelerated. By the end of the decade, the relocation of the southeastern Indian tribes to Oklahoma

168-705: The Indian tribes indigenous to the region and those then forced to migrate to Indian Territory . After ten years of this service, he was breveted to brigadier general . In the spring of 1834, on the eve of the First Dragoon Expedition (also called the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition), Brigadier General Arbuckle was replaced as regional commander by General Henry Leavenworth and returned to Virginia. General Leavenworth, however, unexpectedly died in July 1834, and

192-532: The Seventh Military District. The General was making plans to extend farther west the security system that he had established to protect Americans traveling to California, when he died suddenly of cholera at Fort Smith on 11 June 1851 during a pandemic . Just before his death, several units of troops under his command had built an outpost on Wildhorse Creek in present-day Garvin County , Oklahoma, and

216-446: The basements. All the buildings were painted white. The square in front of the buildings served as a parade ground. A hospital building was on the east side, about 250 feet (76 m) from the last barracks building. Stables, shops and gardens were outside the rectangle on the east. The sutler's building, the dairy and poultry yards were outside the rectangle on the west. The cemetery was about 300 yards (270 m) farther west. After

240-462: The battle, Arbuckle had returned to Greenbrier County and established his residence near Fort Savannah, later known as Lewisburg . In 1776, Arbuckle built Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant and was in command there the following year when a contingent of newly arrived and undisciplined militia witnessed one of their number killed and scalped by Indians. This mob overcame their officers' (including Arbuckle's) attempts to maintain order and famously murdered

264-691: The buildings except one of the barracks and the hospital. The remaining facilities are now managed by the Oklahoma Historical Society . At the beginning of the American Civil War , the Confederacy took over the remaining buildings of the fort. They had created an alliance with the Choctaw, promising them and other tribes a state of their own if the Confederacy won their war. The fort was used as

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288-481: The captive Cornstalk, an event which cast a shadow over the region for decades. In 1778, Arbuckle was active in raising the siege of Fort Donnally , near his home in Greenbrier County. When the town of Lewisburg was formally laid out in 1780, Arbuckle was the first settler. After discharge from active military service he farmed his extensive lands and served in several official public positions. In March 1781, he

312-476: The construction of Fort Washita 70 miles (110 km) to the west in 1842, Fort Towson lost importance. It was garrisoned until June 1854. At that time, it was turned over to the use of the Choctaw Indian Agency, then run by Indian Agent Douglas H. Cooper . A storm in the same month blew the roofs off several buildings and did some other damage to the facility. A few years later, a fire destroyed all of

336-543: The fort is designated as an Oklahoma Historic Site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#70000531) in 1970. Matthew Arbuckle Brig. Gen. (Bvt) Matthew Arbuckle, Jr (1778–1851) was a career soldier in the U.S. Army closely identified with the Indian Territory for the last thirty years of his life. He was born 28 December 1778 in Greenbrier County , Virginia (now West Virginia),

360-527: The fourth of six sons of Capt. Matthew Arbuckle Sr. and Frances (Hunter) Arbuckle. The father was a veteran of the Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore's War and later distinguished himself in the American Revolution . Little is known of his early life, but on 3 March 1799 he was commissioned ensign in the 3rd Infantry Regiment , and advanced to first lieutenant within eight months. In 1802,

384-586: The headquarters of Confederate General Samuel B. Maxey . The last remaining Confederate Army troops were commanded by General Stand Watie ( Cherokee ), a principal chief of his nation until the end of the war. He surrendered to Union forces at Fort Towson on June 23, 1865. The post was abandoned at the close of the Civil War. Soldiers buried in the cemetery were moved to Fort Gibson . The buildings fell into ruin and foundation stones were hauled off by local residents to be used for other buildings. The location of

408-465: The length of the "Great Kanawha" valley and records indicate that he reached the future site of Point Pleasant , at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, around 1764. By 1767 he is listed as a lieutenant and in 1770 he was commissioned captain of (the newly formed) Botetourt County militia. He served as a "gentleman justice" of Botetourt County from its founding in 1769 until 1773. In 1774, he built

432-611: The new post was named Fort Arbuckle in his honor. The name soon transferred in common usage to the nearby hills, which still are known as the Arbuckle Mountains . Arbuckle Island on the Arkansas River, which he once owned, is also named for him. Matthew Arbuckle Sr. Captain Matthew Arbuckle Sr. , (July 15, 1740 – July 27, 1781) was a pioneering hunter and trapper of western Virginia (now West Virginia ) and

456-584: The north side of the rectangle. These structures were built of logs, 1.5 stories tall, with 3 feet (0.91 m) limestone foundations and covered porches facing south. Four other buildings were located on two sides of the rectangle, facing each other. These were one story high, but had higher foundations, effectively creating basements. Those closest to the officers' quarters were a combination of sub-officers' quarters, quartermaster's office, amusement parlor, and school room. The last two buildings were barracks for common soldiers. The kitchens and dining halls were in

480-490: The stockade on Muddy Creek, Greenbrier County , now known as Arbuckle's Old Fort. After the outbreak of Lord Dunmore's War in May 1774, Arbuckle both assumed command of a company of Botetourt County militia and served as guide and chief scout for General Andrew Lewis 's late summer march to Point Pleasant. This led directly to the defeat of Chief Cornstalk 's native forces at the Battle of Point Pleasant in October. Soon after

504-568: The war. A family story exists that Arbuckle served on Jackson's staff during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, but no evidence has been found for this claim. Arbuckle led a successful expedition against the "Fowltown Indians" of Southern Georgia in 1817, during the opening phase of the First Seminole War . Later in 1817, Arbuckle was in command of Fort Montgomery . In 1820, the President promoted Arbuckle to colonel and gave him command of

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528-567: Was abandoned in April 1829, and the garrison moved to Fort Jessup . The cantonment was intended only as a temporary facility, having nothing but tents and a few wooden shacks. In November 1830, the Army ordered the construction of a permanent fort in the area, as it had been assigned for the relocation of the Choctaw from present-day what became Mississippi, under the Indian Removal Act . A new site

552-499: Was chosen about 6 miles (9.7 km) from the original site. The new fort was reestablished as "Camp Phoenix" to protect the Choctaw Nation . It was renamed as Fort Towson in 1831. Gradually a settlement developed around it. The new Fort Towson was much more substantial. The north side was atop the bluffs of Gates Creek. The fort occupied a rectangle containing about half an acre. The officers' quarters consisted of three buildings on

576-458: Was largely complete. Though civil war threatened to break out among some of the tribes, in 1841, when he left Fort Gibson for the second time, Arbuckle reported, "I have maintained peace on this frontier." He was transferred to Baton Rouge , Louisiana, where he headed the military district but commanded no troops directly. He had developed a considerable professional rivalry with Zachary Taylor, which may explain why he played no significant role in

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