Garvin, Oklahoma

The route 21000 Choctaw walked during removal in 1831-1833. Hundreds died along this road.

You're driving through McCurtain County, not far from Wright City, where Joseph Oklahombi, a full-blood Choctaw, became a World War I hero. He was one of the original "Code Talkers," using his native tongue to relay…

You're driving through McCurtain County, passing a place that was once the heart of a massive timber empire. Back in 1906, the Dierks brothers, already successful in the lumber business, arrived here. They established…

You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, a region once covered in millions of acres of virgin pine. Right here, in McCurtain County, the Dierks brothers, pioneers of the lumber industry, established a major…

You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, the land of towering pines and a history deeply rooted in the timber industry. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, companies like the Dierks brothers' Choctaw Lumber…

You're driving through Wright City, Oklahoma, a town with a name that changed with the times. It started as Bismark around 1909, named by the Dierks Lumber Company after a town where they used to do business in…

Crossroads, Oklahoma, nestled in the Ouachita Mountains of McCurtain County, might seem like just another quiet spot where the pines meet the hardwood forests. But this Lowland South community has seen its share of…

You're driving through Valliant, Oklahoma, and right nearby is a piece of history unique to the entire Indian Territory. Just outside of town once stood the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial Academy, a boarding school founded…

Right here, you're driving past the legacy of the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company. In 1910, they chartered the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary. This line, starting at Valliant and reaching…

15000 acres of bottomland hardwood. Only NWR in Oklahoma. Bald eagles nest here.

In this vicinity archeologists have located a large village and ceremonial center occupied between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1700 by ancestors of the Caddo Indians. Sedentary farmers, the Caddos built villages and farms on…

You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, not far from Broken Bow, the birthplace of baseball legend Harry "The Cat" Brecheen. Brecheen was a star pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he made history in the…

You're driving through southeastern Oklahoma, an area that was once almost entirely forest. But by the early 1900s, logging entrepreneurs were stripping it bare. That is, until brothers Fred and John Dierks, owners of…

Right here in southeastern Oklahoma, you're passing through Broken Bow. It's a town with a surprising origin story. It wasn't named for any local Native American history, but instead for Broken Bow, Nebraska. That's…

Alamo defender Jesse B. Bowman was born in Tennessee about 1785. By 1811 he was living in Illinois where his son Joseph T. Bowman was born that year. Bowman and his family settled in Ouichita County, Arkansas, until it…

In memory of Robert Hamilton - a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence - March 2, 1836 - Born in Blevard, Scotland - March 24, 1783 - Died in Red River County, Texas - 1843

(About a half mile NW was 19th century town) One of first ports of entry into Texas for Anglo-Americans. Opened early as 1814; heavily used by 1817. Named for 1819-21 ferry owner Henry Jones (1789-1861). Claimed by both…

Near here at the Old Jonesboro Crossing, Sam Houston, an envoy of President Andrew Jackson first set foot on Texas soil, December 2, 1832.

Nestled in the Ouachita Mountains of McCurtain County, Broken Bow offers a sense of escape among the towering pines. It was named for a Choctaw chief, commemorating a broken bow, and officially incorporated in 1911. The…

(January 1, 1782 - September 20, 1816) An Englishwoman who died soon after settling in Jonesboro. Her grave is one of Texas' oldest Caucasian burials.

You're driving through McCurtain County, heading north of Broken Bow, and you're passing through the last sizeable expanse of virgin shortleaf pine and hardwood forest in the entire nation. This 14,000-acre area was set…

Right here in McCurtain County, you're passing by the site of Wheelock Academy, a place dedicated to educating Choctaw girls for over a century. It began in 1832 with missionaries Alfred and Harriet Wright, who served…

You're driving through McCurtain County, and right here is the Little River National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1987, this preserve protects vital wetlands and a surprising amount of wildlife. It's one of the few…

Right here in McCurtain County, you're driving past the Grobin Davis Site, a place where ancient Oklahomans lived and worshipped over 700 years ago. This wasn't just a village; it was a major ceremonial center for the…

You're driving through Clarksville, near Tuggle Springs Cemetery. Established around 1850 by farmer Andrew Jackson Tuggle, it officially became a burial ground in 1864 when a mother and infant died. The cemetery, named…

You're driving past Swink, Oklahoma, and right here, beneath your wheels, lies the forgotten wreck of the steamboat Heroine. Built in 1832, the Heroine was one of the first steamboats to brave the newly cleared Red…

You're driving through Choctaw County, and right here is the story of Swink. Founded by David Randall Swink, who married into the Choctaw Nation, the town's first site had a problem: the land belonged to his young son,…

Mountain Fork River trout fishing and old-growth pine in Oklahoma southeastern corner.

Right here in McCurtain County, you're passing through the area where Paul Stewart built a remarkable life. Born in Arkansas in 1892, Stewart moved to Indian Territory as a boy. By age thirteen, he was in the mercantile…

You're driving through Haworth, Oklahoma, a town that owes its existence to a railroad and a booming timber industry. Originally surveyed as Harrington in 1902 by the Choctaw Townsite Commission, its development really…

Submerged when Broken Bow Lake filled in 1970. Now a cabin resort boom town named after a drowned village.

14000 acres of old-growth forest. Black bears and the only wild population of red-cockaded woodpeckers in OK.

14200-acre lake in the Ouachita foothills. Clearest water in Oklahoma.

You're driving past New Haven Cemetery, a final resting place for many area pioneers. The story here starts in 1859 when George M. Sargeant donated land for a church, school, and graveyard. The very first person laid to…

Imagine life on the edge of civilization. That's exactly what Fort Towson was: a crucial outpost on the Permanent Indian Frontier. Established in 1824, Fort Towson served multiple purposes. It was a military post, a…