Allen in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma — The American South (West South Central)
Chickasaw/Choctaw Stickball Game
(Kapochcha Akaaballi)
Photographed by Michael Manning, March 27, 2013
1. Chickasaw / Choctaw Stickball Game Marker
Inscription.
Chickasaw/Choctaw Stickball Game. (Kapochcha Akaaballi). The 1856 boundary between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations was east of this site. Each spring and fall the Indians from both Nations met here to race horses and play games. This site was perfect because of the good spring water that fed the area. One of the most talked about games was played on a spring day in 1903. About 300 energetic people came and placed bets. This ancient game was played with a small ball that could be passed with a pair of ball sticks and was played on a field about 100 yards long with goal posts, about 15 feet high on each end. The first team with 12 points won. But medicine men and women affected play. A Choctaw got slammed with a ball stick and riled the entire crowd and started a fight. Light Horsemen and U.S. Marshals stopped the fight and the game was undecided.
The 1856 boundary between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations was east of this site. Each spring and fall the Indians from both Nations met here to race horses and play games. This site was perfect because of the good spring water that fed the area. One of the most talked about games was played on a spring day in 1903. About 300 energetic people came and placed bets. This ancient game was played with a small ball that could be passed with a pair of ball sticks and was played on a field about 100 yards long with goal posts, about 15 feet high on each end. The first team with 12 points won. But medicine men and women affected play. A Choctaw got slammed with a ball stick and riled the entire crowd and started a fight. Light Horsemen and U.S. Marshals stopped the fight and the game was undecided.
Erected by Chickasaw Historical Society, The Chickasaw Nation.
Location. 34° 49.954′ N, 96° 27.509′ W. Marker is in Allen, Oklahoma, in Pontotoc County. It is on County Route E150.5 1.3 miles east of Oklahoma Highway 1, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Allen OK 74825, United States of America. Touch for directions.
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Regionally, this marker is in Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation. It is also in the American South, specifically on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 4 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Osage Village (approx. 1.3 miles away); Allen War Veterans Memorial (approx. 4 miles away); Sasakwa (approx. 10.1 miles away); Fort Holmes (approx. 13.9 miles away).
Regarding Chickasaw/Choctaw Stickball Game. The marker is located about ½ west of the actual ball field location.
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, March 27, 2021
2. Chickasaw/Choctaw Stickball Game Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 25, 2022. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2013, by Michael Manning of Woodlawn, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,800 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on April 5, 2013, by Michael Manning of Woodlawn, Tennessee. 2. submitted on August 11, 2021, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.