Fort Coffee is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. Originally constructed as a U. S. Army fort in 1834, it was named for U. S. General John Coffee, a veteran of the Seminole Wars.Dennis Peterson. "Fort Coffee." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Retrieved September 16, 2012. It is part of the

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 ...

-Oklahoma

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. The population was 424 at the 2010 census, a gain of 2.9 percent over the figure of 412 in 2000.

History

The town of Fort Coffee traces its beginnings to 1832, when the Choctaw Indian tribe was removed from the southeastern United States and transported to land in the eastern part of Indian Territory (now in the state of Oklahoma). Most of the travel was by water, and the site of Fort Coffee became a port on 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 ...

. In 1834, the Choctaw Nation petitioned the U.S. War Department to construct a fort that would stop the flow of alcohol and other illegal items from flowing into their territory along the Arkansas River. The garrison succeeded in its mission and also built roads connecting

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

, and Fort Towson. The army abandoned Fort Coffee in 1838 when Fort Smith was reestablished. The site of Fort Coffee was located in

Skullyville County Skullyville (also spelled Scullyville) is an unincorporated rural community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is approximately one mile east of Spiro and southwest of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The community is within the Fort Smith, ...

, a part of 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 St ...

. In 1843, the Choctaw nation allowed the Methodist Episcopal church to establish the Fort Coffee Choctaw Boys Academy in the buildings. This school continued until the outbreak of the Civil War, when Confederate forces commanded by General Stand Watie occupied the site. The Union Army recaptured the fort in 1863. Most of the buildings were burned during this time. Several small houses were built using the foundation stones. The Choctaw were required to release their slaves by the Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. Many of the freed men remained in the Choctaw Nation lands. Many of these were legally adopted into the Choctaw Nation in 1885, thus qualifying for land allotments by the Dawes Commission. The local economy has largely been based on agriculture. Major crops included cotton, livestock and soybeans. There was a cotton gin in Fort Coffee to handle locally grown crops. The Fort Smith and Western Railroad and the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railway (bought by the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1900) transported the products to outside markets. The town of Fort Coffee did not incorporate until 1998.

Geography

Fort Coffee is located at . It is northeast of Spiro. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and 0.16% is water. The town is just south of a bend of the

, downstream from the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir, and north of

U.S. Route 271 U.S. Route 271 (US 271, US-271) is a north–south United States highway. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route (Arkansas and Oklahoma) to a tri-state route (Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas). Its southern terminus is in Tyler, ...

, about 11 miles from the Arkansas border.

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 412 people, 163 households and 109 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 176 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 26.21% White, 62.86%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

, 3.88% Native American, and 7.04% from two or more races. There were 163 households, of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.17. Age distribution was 23.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.6 males. The median household income was $26,827, and the median family income was $31,528. Males had a median income of $26,094 versus $22,344 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,039. About 25.6% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.9% of those under age 18 and 50.0% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Despite the

Spiro, Oklahoma Spiro is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2010 census, a 2.8 percent decline from the figure of 2,227 recorded in 20 ...

mailing address, the

Spiro Mounds Spiro Mounds ( 34 LF 40) is an archaeological site located in present-day eastern Oklahoma that remains from an indigenous Indian culture that was part of the major northern Caddoan Mississippian culture. The 80-acre site is located within a flo ...

and the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center are in Fort Coffee. W. D. Mayo Lock and Dam, part of the

McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System The McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) is part of the United States inland waterway system originating at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and running southeast through Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River. The total ...

, is just northeast of town, while a boat ramp with access to the river above W. D. Mayo Lock and Dam is just north of town.

References

External links

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Fort Coffee

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Towns in LeFlore County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Fort Smith metropolitan area Populated places established in 1834 1834 establishments in Indian Territory