Fort Wayne was the name of two forts near the present-day border of northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas.

Indian Territory 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 States, ...

by Lt. Col. R.B. Mason of the 1st Dragoons. Originally, Captain John Stuart of the 7th Infantry was ordered to build the fort (then designated as Camp Illinois) on the south bank of the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

headwaters. Before its completion, new orders changed the location to Spavinaw Creek, nearer the Arkansas – Indian Territory border.Hitchcock, p. 77 fn. Lt. Colonel Richard B. Mason and the First Dragoons were tasked to perform the relocation in 1840. Named for Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, it was intended to supplant Fort Coffee as a link in the great line of forts protecting the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. Specifically, it was to protect a nearby military road and relieve residents of northwestern Arkansas of fears of depredations by Cherokees living in Indian Territory. The army abandoned the fort in 1842 due to the high incidence of malaria suffered by soldiers assigned there, and turned it over to the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

. It was used thereafter by Stand Watie and his followers until the Civil War Battle of Old Fort Wayne in October, 1862.May, Jon D. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Fort Wayne."
Retrieved June 15, 2013. At the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

, Stand Watie took over the fort site, where he organized the Cherokee Mounted Rifles. The Union met the Confederates near here in 1862 for the Battle of Old Fort Wayne. The old fort was located in present-day Adair County, near U.S. Hwy 59 just north of Watts, Oklahoma. An Oklahoma State Historical site marker can be seen alongside the highway. The marker was placed in the 1970s at the request of area residents. Up until this time most residents had no idea the fort had ever existed. The site of the newer fort built in 1840, was in present-day Delaware County near the community of Maysville, Arkansas Nothing remains of the fort at either location. The area is located on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border just south of present-day

Siloam Springs, Arkansas Siloam Springs is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County, Arkansas, United States, and located on the western edge of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan area, Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Unite ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Hitchcock, Ethan Allen. ''A Traveler in Indian Territory:The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock''. Edited and annotated by Grant Foreman. Originally published 1930. Web version available in part through Google Book

Retrieved June 15, 2013. * Wright, Murial H.; George H. Shirk; Kenny A. Franks. ''Mark of Heritage''. Oklahoma City:

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

, 1976.

External links

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{coord missing, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Adair County, Oklahoma Indian Territory Wayne Indian Territory in the American Civil War 1838 establishments in Indian Territory 1842 disestablishments in the United States

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