The Poteau River is a 141-mile (227 km)U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 3, 2011 long

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. It is the only river in Oklahoma that flows north and is the seventh largest river in the state. It is a tributary of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, which itself is a tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. During the

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 ...

period prior to Oklahoma's statehood (1838-1906), the stream served as the boundary between Skullyville County and Sugar Loaf County, two of the counties making up the

Moshulatubbee District Moshulatubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the First District, it encompassed the northern one-third of the nation. In some historic records it is ...

of the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

. Poteau River also serves as the border between the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma for 1 mile to the South of Fort Smith. This gives 57 acres of land to Arkansas that would have been an exclave of the Choctaw nation in 1905, when it was handed over to Arkansas.

Etymology

''Poteau'' is the French word for "

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

" and it is believed that the river was named in 1716 by French explorers, led by

Bernard de la Harpe Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, who used a post or stake to mark the mouth of the river. The nearby city of

Poteau, Oklahoma Poteau ( ) is a city in, and county seat of, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,520 as of the 2010 census. History In 1719, Bernard de la Harpe led a group of French explorers through this area and gave the river its ...

takes its name from the river.

History

In the 1820 Treaty of Doak's Sand, and later refined in the 1830

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

between the United States and the Choctaw Nation, the boundary between Arkansas and the Choctaw ran from the Easternmost point under Choctaw control along the red River to the Western edge of Fort Smith, Arkansas. This boundary caused an area of approximately 57 acres that was legally Choctaw, but was bounded by Fort Smith in the East, the Arkansas River in the North, and the Poteau River in the Southeast. This caused an effective

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the Choctaw Nation only accessible from Arkansas. This 57-acres became a hotspot for outlaws avoiding the jurisdiction of Arkansas, while being out of the functional jurisdiction of the Choctaw Nation. The area became known as "Coke Hill" due to the abundance of cocaine smugglers using the plot. In 1905, without consulting the Choctaw, The US government handed the 57 acres over to the state of Arkansas, making the Poteau River the boundary between Arkansas and the Choctaw for around 1 mile. This boundary was the de-facto border in Oklahoma's constitution, and remained the border undisputed until 1985. In 1985, in the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

Case Oklahoma v. Arkansas, Oklahoma argued the territory was unjustly taken from the Choctaw and should be given to Oklahoma. The Supreme court decided on July 1, 1985 that the boundary favoring Arkansas would stand, making the Poteau River the border for approximately 1 mile between Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Course

The Poteau River originates 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Bee Mountain near Waldron, Arkansas, and converges with the

at Belle Point in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, where it serves as a border between the two states for a short distance. Tributaries of the Poteau River include the

Fourche Maline Fourche Maline (pronounced foosh-ma-lean) (''Bad Fork'', French) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 tributary of the Poteau River in Oklahoma. The headwater ...

, Brazil and Sans Bois Creeks.Everett, Dianna. "Latimer County," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009.
Accessed March 28, 2016. Notable towns located along the river, in order from source to mouth, include Wister, Heavener, Poteau,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, Spiro, Fort Coffee (all in Oklahoma) and Fort Smith in Arkansas.

Lake Wister

Lake Wister Lake Wister is a reservoir in Le Flore County, in southeast Oklahoma.Crain, Harold. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Wister The lake is created by the Poteau River and the Fourche Maline creek. Wister Lake was authorized for flo ...

is a reservoir created by the damming of the Poteau River near river mile 70 by Wister Dam which was built in December 1949.

Lake Wister State Park Lake Wister State Park is a Oklahoma state park located in Le Flore County, Oklahoma. It is located near the city of Wister, Oklahoma. Lake Wister State Park, in southeast Oklahoma, is a gateway to the beautiful Ouachita National Forest. The ...

has since been built around the reservoir. The lake and dam both take their name from the nearby town of Wister, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Runestones

Numerous

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

s have been found in Oklahoma and are believed by locals to be the works of Viking explorers who traveled up the Poteau River after navigating the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, respectively. The evidence surrounding these claims is sparse and inconsistent, however. The most credible artifact discovered is the "

Heavener Runestone A number of runestones have been found in Oklahoma. All of them are of modern origin dating to the 19th century "Viking revival" or being produced by 19th-century Scandinavian settlers. The oldest find is the "Heavener Runestone," first document ...

," which can be seen in Heavener Runestone Park located in Heavener, Oklahoma.

References

* {{authority control Bodies of water of Le Flore County, Oklahoma Rivers of Arkansas Rivers of Oklahoma Bodies of water of Scott County, Arkansas Borders of Arkansas Tributaries of the Arkansas River Borders of Oklahoma