Home » Home & Style » Native-American Crafts » Searching For A Point: Collecting Arrowheads

Searching For A Point: Collecting Arrowheads

© Edwina Lewis

On a recent trip to Oklahoma to visit relatives, my daughter, about-to-be son-in-law, and my mother's eldest sister accompanied me to an old Indian fort, Fort Washita. Fort Washita, Indian Territory from 1842-1865, has a colorful past. Located 15 miles northwest of Durant, Oklahoma, the fort was originally established in 1841 by the U.S. Army to protect the Choctaw and Chickasaw as they were building schools and establishing law in the southeastern Indian territory. Threatened by raiding Plains Indians and insecurity, the Army set up the fort to "intercept raiding parties and maintain peace."

General Zachary Taylor moved into the area 18 miles north of the Red River with a small detachment of mounted troopers in the summer of 1841. By April of 1842, the fort was ready to be occupied. But in 1861, the fort was abandoned by the federal forces, and the next day, Confederate forces from Texas moved into the fort and it became a supply depot for the Confederate troops.

In 1870, Fort Washita was taken over by the Department of the Interior, which then turned the land over to the Chickasaw family of Abbie Davis Colbert and her son. You can study more of the history and find many fascinating pictures at the Fort Washita History web site.









Fort Washita West Barracks ruins

---

A Game

---

When's the last time you played "20 Questions"? Hmmm. Does that count as the first question? The reason I ask is that we played the old game while on the trip. And thinking about the topic for this column reminded me of the mysterious fort and the mysteries of the game.

So how about we play:

Question 1: What Indian relic/collectible can you own for next to nothing--or maybe even have a real treasure for free?

As we walked the grounds of Fort Washita and studied the names in the cemeteries there, ghosts of the past seemed ever present. Tilting headstones tell storied of the burial of tiny babies and young children, one baby and mother who died six days apart, and heartbreakingly, the baby's sister who died a few years later on the exact day as her mother. The past is brought into the present.

Question 2: What collectible can be found simply by walking and carefully studying the ground?

We also walked through the Chickasaw Burial Grounds, being ever so careful not to disturb the peace there. So much to think about.

Question 3: Name something smooth.

Question 4: Name something rough.