Indian Pioneer Papers - Index
Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: May 28, 1937
Name: James Douthit
Post Office:
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Residence
address: 225 South Second
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Father:
Information on Father:
Mother:
Information on Mother:
Field
Worker: Carl Sherwood
Vol. 26 Microfiche 6016891 #207
The Old Line Road from Ft. Smith to South West City, Oklahoma
This road began at Fort Smith and crossed the Arkansas river at Van
Buren on the ferry before the first bridge was built and went north through
Van Buren to Old Log Town. This town obtained its name because all the houses
and business places were built out of logs. This town was not located in heavy
timber but was built on a sandy hill where grew scrubby cedar trees. The next
stage stop was Cedarville and from there the road went to National dam which
crossed big Lee's creek and over the Boston Mountains, down to Evansville.
From there it next went to old Dutch Town which is Dutch Mills today. In this
town Mr. WEBBER had a blacksmith shop. He was an old timer of this vicinity.
Mr. KIMBROUGH ran the general merchandise store and an old flour mill was
located here. The burrs of the flour mill that ground the wheat were made of
the native rock. This mill was owned by BILL WHITAKER and was a steam mill and
fired by wood. The Indians and old settlers brought their wheat to this mill.
This road crossed Sugar Hill and from there went to an inland town by the name
of Summers, which town was named after an old settler by this name. (Mr.
Webber made turning plows for the farmers of that vicinity.) The next stage
stop was Cincinnati, another inland town which was quite a manufacturing town.
The J. Oat(?) wagon was built at Cincinnati. This wagon was made of better
timber than they can obtain today. This factory also built stage coaches which
were used on the old Line road, which is called the Military trail today. And
in this town was a tannery, that tanned hides of all kinds.
The boys of that
vicinity were given work stripping bark off the red oak trees. The bark was
stacked in piles to season, and when it was dry, the strips were ground to a
powder which they used at the tannery. The leather produced by this method was
much better and would wear longer than what they have today. (Dutch Town
received its name from a settlement of black Dutch. Mr. SEAY and Mr. GODDARD
were prominent among the Dutch. This old Line road passed through the disputed
strip which was settled in 1877, through Siloam Springs to South West City
which is in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. At Dutch Mills the road turned
west down Barren Fork creek, across the country near where Baron station is
now, and went in a northwesterly direction to near Proctor, then went on to
near where Christie is, and where then was a toll gate.
There were two ways to
go to Tahlequah -- the one over the Mountain was the west road, going down
Barren Fork creek and emerging on a Mountain near Boudinot Springs. Here was
the Boudinot ford on the Illinois river and from there it went on into
Tahlequah. The road out of Tahlequah ran in a southwesterly course to what was
known as the Limestone Cap and on to a station known as Bayou which was a
stage stop. From then on the same course right directly in front of the
Military cemetery on the north side into Fort Gibson.