The End of Doaksville

The End of Doaksville. . , Economic and political changes to the region surrounding Doaksville caused this community to decline rapidly in late 1860s and 1870s. There is little archaeological evidence of sustained activity at this place after about 1870. , In 1854, Fort Towson was abandoned, the first of many blows for the economy of the Doaksville area. Soon thereafter, the Civil War had a devastating effect on the Choctaw Nation and its residents. In 1863 the Choctaws moved their capital to Armstrong Academy or Chahta Tamaha, 50 miles to the west. In addition to the collapse of the southern economy based on slave labor, the Civil War in Indian Territory caused the destruction of substantial amounts of personal property. , The death knell sounded for old Doaksville with the construction of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad through southern Choctaw Nation in 1900-1901. At the time the few buildings that remained at Darksville were abandoned or moved to a new townsite about a mile to the south called Fort Towson. The name of the Doaksville post office, first established in 1847, was changed to Fort Towson on June 12, 1903. Once the most important place in the Choctaw Nation, old Doaksville became just a memory. , My father traded mostly at Old Doaksville, but he would trade at Clarkesville, Texas, some of the time. After the railroad went through the country going east and west, we traded at Fort Towson, which was established after the railroad went through. It was a sawmill town but we could get anything we wanted at this place. , Sisey Jefferson