Vol. 46, No. 6 Published monthly by the Oklahoma Historical Society, serving since 1893 June 2015 Fort Towson to open new Visitor Center On Saturday, June 13, Fort Towson will host the grand opening of a brand-new, 6,000-square-foot visitor center. Construction of the new building was funded, in part, with grant funds from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation through the Transportation Enhancement Program. Exhibit development was made possible by a generous donation from the Kirkpatrick Foundation and a National Park Service grant through the Maritime Heritage Grant Program. The Fort Towson Visitor Center grand opening coincides with the annual Fort Town Homecoming Celebration. Community activities on Saturday, June 13, include a parade downtown at 10 a.m. Opening ceremonies at Fort Towson Historic Site take place at 11:30 a.m. and will commence with Union officers accepting Stand Watie’s formal surrender as the last Confederate areas on the broken deck and see the objects in the river bottom general to lay down arms. The surrender document will be read below. As they explore, they will trigger motion sensors that will prior to the signing, thus marking the end of the sesquicentennial activate spotlights and audio clips of the archaeologists high- commemorations. Following a welcome and recognition of lighting the various objects they found. In the boxes, visitors dignitaries will be the formal ribbon cutting. Barbecue vendors will feel a small portion of the artifact as if it were buried in sand will be available at the fort and a Pony Express Race begins at and mud. Artifacts will include hammer heads, buckles, boots, 1:30 p.m. dishes, various tools, boxes, and barrels of goods. The partially The $1 million construction project was recently completed at reconstructed paddle wheel will give visitors a visual perspective Fort Towson, funded by a partnership between the OHS and of the size of the boat. the Department of Transportation through the federal highway Located in Choctaw County, Fort Towson was established in enhancement program. With the visitor center’s completion, staff 1824 in response to a need to quell conflicts between lawless are moving operations into the new 6,000-square-foot facility. elements, American Indian peoples, and settlers claiming the The new building includes 1,600 square feet of exhibit space, as area as part of Arkansas Territory. The fort also served as an well as collections storage, a research library, and a gift shop. outpost on the border between the United States and Texas, Exhibit designs are in the final stages. Topics featured in the which at that time was part of Mexico. Connected to the East museum exhibits will include the establishment and history by road, Fort Towson served as a gateway for settlers bound of Fort Towson, Choctaw removal and resettlement in Indian for Texas during the 1830s. Those passing through the area Territory, daily life of frontier soldiers, the Civil War in Indian included Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and Stephen F. Austin. Territory, Doaksville, Rose Hill plantation, and commerce in the When the Choctaws and Chickasaws were displaced from their area—how goods traveled into and out of the territory. lands in the southeastern United States, the fort served as a An exhibit highlight will be the Heroine, a steamboat wreck point of dispersal upon their arrival in the West. The fort also discovered in the Red River in 1999 near Swink, Oklahoma. was an important staging area for US forces during the Mexican The Heroine is the earliest example of a western river steamboat War of 1846. ever studied by archaeologists. The OHS and the Institute of Fort Towson was abandoned in 1856 when the frontier moved Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University completed a west. During the Civil War, however, it served for a time as head- multiyear project of excavation, documentation, research, and quarters for Confederate forces operating in Indian Territory. In conservation of the vessel and its cargo. Low visibility, changing 1865 General Stand Watie surrendered his command near the river currents, and hidden obstacles made dive conditions fort to become the last Confederate general to lay down arms. especially harsh during the excavation project. When the Oklahoma Historical Society acquired the site The steamboat Heroine exhibit will give visitors a small sample in 1960, little remained on the surface to portray its former of what the divers experienced while recovering objects from the importance. The movement to save the remains of Fort Towson sunken steamboat. Visitors can explore the boxes and various began in 1961 during the Civil War Centennial celebration. John E. Kirkpatrick served on the centennial commission and soon personally took on the task of saving the fort. In 1967 the Kirkpatrick Foundation purchased seventy-two acres of land, the core of the historic ruins. In 1968 a long-term lease executed between the OHS and the Kirkpatrick Foundation allowed the OHS to develop the property and open it to the public. That same year the OHS Board of Directors appointed Kirkpatrick to the newly formed Fort Towson Commission charged with preserving the site and overseeing operations. In 2013, the Kirkpatrick Foundation and the OHS renewed the lease for thirty-five years. Fort Towson is located fourteen miles east of Hugo on Highway 70 in Fort Towson, Oklahoma. The address is HC 63, Box 1580. Artist rendering of exhibits inside the visitor center. Please call 580-873-2634 for more information. It is our hope that the grants will be New Members, April 2015 used primarily for care of collections, educational programs, and exhibit devel- *Indicates renewed memberships at a opment. This may take the form of con- higher level sulting contracts, but in most cases the grants would be for staff support with Director’s Circle specific outcomes based on collections, *Barrie Henke, Edmond Director’s education, and exhibits. Other possible Associate column uses of the funds might be heat and air *Phil Kliewer, Cordell system repair or upgrades, case work, lighting, and security. Friend Passage of the bill has been a long-time Robert Berry, Enid *Terry and Kay Britton, Norman dream of the OHS. *Royce and Kathlyn Caldron, Ponca City We first proposed a grants program in *Joe and Donna Foote, Norman 2005, and came close to passage one Daniel Mahler, Fort Smith, AR year. Since then, we have requested Family authorization every year, but with little Mickey and Jane Banister, Edmond By Dr. Bob L. Blackburn response. Robert and Jeannine Bennett, Oklahoma City Executive Director This time, we asked Senator Ron Jus- Charles and Penni Brady, Ardmore Susan Cartwright and Kayla Cartwright, Durant tice to sponsor the bill. We worked with Kent Condray and Astrid Lee, El Reno Help is on the way. him to draft the language, sought support Ronald and Ann Davis, Oklahoma City A few weeks ago, the Oklahoma Legis- Charlie Dry and Anita Bryant-Dry, Edmond from local and tribal groups interested in Sandi Estes, Locust Grove lature passed and the governor signed history, and supported the senator as he Barbara Hutton, Sapulpa Senate Bill 297, which creates a grants- guided the bill through the committee Yolanda Jones, Oklahoma City in-aid program that will accomplish a long Eva King and Eugene King, Oklahoma City process and onto the floor for a vote. *Betty Jo Law, Oklahoma City list of goals for the historical community Representative Earl Sears signed on Roger Mitchell, Austin, TX in our state. as the House sponsor and guided the *Terry Schreiner, Duncan Although the bill does not provide Jeff and Pattie Simmons, Oklahoma City bill through that side of the Capitol. He Eddie and Donna Spaulding, Tulsa funding for grants at this time, it does always has been an active supporter of Robert Tehan and Linda Quinlivan, Oklahoma City allow us to start working on the rules and *Ethel Thomas, Pawhuska the Frank Phillips Home in Bartlesville, Donna Wyskup and Chinh Doan, Oklahoma City criteria for grants as we prepare for the one of our properties, so he understood day when funding is in place. what we are trying to accomplish at the Individual The program will provide small but grassroots level throughout the state. Michael Beauchamp, Claremore significant grants to local historical Christina Bell, Idabel I want to thank both of those gentlemen Shelly Berryman, Tulsa societies, museums, genealogical groups, for sponsoring the bill and Governor Fallin Mekayla Brock, Tulsa and other nonprofit organizations that for signing it into law. Now it is up to us Shawnnon Carrol, Duncan “collect, preserve, and share” Oklahoma Andrew Castleberry, Edmond to find a sustainable stream of funding Richard Cooper, Ada history. This includes city and county to make the system work. We have ideas, Bobby Cornelson, Weatherford museums, tribal museums, family but it will take a couple of years to put Carolyn Dewberry, Lawton research centers, and historic properties Abraham Dominguez, Tulsa them in place. George Drianis, Mountain Iron, MN open to the public. In the meantime, I want to encourage John Francis, McAlester As stated in the bill, the grants will re- Stan Galyen, Okay all historical groups to continue building Seth Graves, Sulphur quire a small match, regularly scheduled their collections, reaching out to young Tonya Gray, Enid hours of public access, and a nonprofit people, and developing exhibits. Katy Green, Tulsa Teri Hammons, Pauls Valley governing board with a constitution and Yes, help is on the way. bylaws. Construction of new museums cont’d. on p. 7 or additions will not be eligible. Other eligibility requirements will be developed through the rules-making process over Oklahoma Historical Society Membership Office: Alma Moore the coming months.