Chahta Tamaha (Choctaw Town) served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation from 1863 to 1883 in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

. The town developed initially around the Armstrong Academy, which was operated by Protestant religious missionaries from 1844 to 1861 to serve Choctaw boys. After the capital was relocated to another town, this community declined. The townsite is located in present-day

Bryan County, Oklahoma Bryan County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,416. Its county seat is Durant. It is the only county in the United States named for Democratic politician William Jennings Bryan. Bryan Cou ...

. In the mid-19th century it had commercial presence. It included a trading post and church. Although the capital had moved, Armstrong Academy was reopened in 1883 to serve only orphaned boys. It was not rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in 1921. Today nothing is left of the town or the Academy. The Armstrong Academy Site is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

1844 Founding until the Civil War

Armstrong Academy was founded as a school for

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

boys in 1844 and was located within the Nation's

Pushmataha District Pushmataha District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the Third District, it encompassed the southwestern one-third of the nation. The Pushmataha District was na ...

. It was named after William Armstrong, a popular US Indian agent to the Choctaw. The site was selected because it had a fresh water spring with enough current to run a gristmill. A large wood supply was also available. The first classroom buildings and dormitories were built of logs from the area. In the late 1850s a brick building replaced the log building. A two-story brick addition was added later. A trading post, blacksmith and church were established early on, which stimulated development of the community. The school had average attendance of about 65 students, but in 1859 it had about 100 students. "The mission was transferred from the American Indian Mission Association to the Domestic Board of Southern Baptist Convention." The

Baptist Missionary Society BMS World Mission is a Mission (Christian), Christian missionary society founded by Baptists from England in 1792. It was originally called the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, but for most of its ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

directed activities until 1855. In that year the school was transferred to control of the

Cumberland Presbyterian The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening.Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000). ...

Board of Foreign and Domestic Missions. They directed it until the school closed in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Allen Wright Allen Wright ( cho, Kiliahote, italic=no) (born November 1826 – December 2, 1885) was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theolog ...

(

), a Presbyterian missionary and later a chief of the Choctaw, served as principal instructor at the academy during 1855–1856.Meserve, John Bartlett. "Chief Allen Wright." In: ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'' vol. 19, no. 4, December, 1941. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
Armstrong Academy was located in Blue County until 1886. At that time, the area became part of the newly organized Jackson County. Both counties were part of the Choctaw Nation's

, one of three administrative regions they established after removal to Indian Territory.Morris, John W. ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1986), plate 38.

As Choctaw capital/Chahta Tamaha

During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the academy closed. Part of the building was used by Confederate forces as a hospital. The Choctaw Council, which had allied with the Confederacy, met there in 1863, and the Choctaw capital was transferred to this town during the same year. The United Nations of Indian Territory delegates (

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

, Chickasaw,

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

, Seminole, and

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

) met there with the Confederacy to plan war strategy. The Confederates had promised these tribes to support a state for Native Americans if they won the war. Commercial activities in the town and region increased during that time.

Post-war years and relocation of the Capital

Chahta Tamaha remained the capital of the Choctaw Nation until 1883, when the capital was relocated to

Tuskahoma Tuskahoma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, four miles east of Clayton. It was the former seat of the Choctaw Nation government prior to Oklahoma statehood. The popu ...

. In that same year the Armstrong Academy was reopened as a school. Admission was limited to orphaned boys. The Armstrong Academy was destroyed by fire in February 1921. The Federal government refused to rebuild it, since the town population had declined markedly after the relocation of the Choctaw nation's capital. The area reverted to its original state and appears as a deserted pasture. Nothing remains of the town but rubble from the Armstrong Academy. The Armstrong Academy Cemetery is visible.

References

Sources