Muddy Boggy Creek, also known as the Muddy Boggy River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 3, 2011 river in south central Oklahoma. The stream headwaters arise just east of

Ada Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

in Pontotoc County. It is a major tributary of the Red River in south central Oklahoma.

Clear Boggy Creek Clear Boggy Creek, also known as the Clear Boggy River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 creek in southeastern Oklahoma that is a tributary of Muddy Bog ...

is a major tributary which enters the Muddy Boggy at a location known as River Mile 24 in Choctaw County. The river is inhabited by over one hundred species of fish.

Geography

Muddy Boggy Creek is located in the counties of Pontotoc, Hughes,

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, Atoka, and

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

. It begins on the eastern edge of

, and comes within of the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Arkoma Basin and the western edge of the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

. It is located in an area once known as the

Cross Timbers The term Cross Timbers, also known as Ecoregion 29, Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains, is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas. Made up of a mix of prairi ...

. It joins the Red River at a point southwest of Hugo, just a few miles upriver from where Highway 271 crosses the Red River at the unincorporated town of Arthur City, Texas. Lake Atoka and McGee Creek Lake are the only major impoundments on Muddy Boggy Creek.

Tributaries

Tributaries of Muddy Boggy Creek include Sand, Caney Boggy, Rock, East Fork, Coal, Caney (Coon), North Boggy, McGee, Cold Spring, Lick and Crowder creeks. Major tributaries of

are Jackfork, Coal, Goose, Leader, Delaware, Sandy, Caney, Fronterhouse, Cowpen, Bois d'Arc and Mayhew creeks. According to Pigg, all of the tributaries in the headwaters are short and deep, while those in the lower elevations are short, shallow and filled with dead timber.

Topography

Near the source, the Muddy Boggy passes through the Arbuckle Mountains, and has a gradient of about . By the time it flows through the Cretaceous area, the gradient is only . It then flows through the Ouachita Mountains. Clear Boggy Creek has a gradient of about near its source and near its mouth.

Watershed

The river basin is about long by wide. The drainage area is , and includes parts of Coal, Pontotoc, Hughes, Pittsburg, Atoka, Johnson, Bryan, Pushmataha, and Choctaw counties.

History

Origin and Use of Name

Muriel H. Wright wrote that Doctor John Sibley had reported in 1805, that this stream had been called ''Vazzures'' by French explorers. She said this was a corruption of the French word ''vaseaux'', which meant boggy or "miry", because of the deep mud or mire in the channel bottom. Later, English-speaking traders named the stream, using the English translation.Wright, Muriel H. "Some Geographic Names of French Origin in Oklahoma." ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 188-193.
Accessed March 5, 2016. During territorial times, Choctaw Indians and white settlers alike referred to what are today called Clear Boggy Creek and Muddy Boggy Creek as the “forks of the Boggy”. The area between the two was known as being “between the Boggies”, a slight departure from the early-day convention of referring to the two as a single creek. Clear Boggy Creek did not achieve separate distinction until much later. Another territorial-era name for Muddy Boggy Creek, "Middle Boggy Creek," is no longer in use. Area residents who used it as a naming convention tended to refer to different sections of the creek as the North Boggy, Middle Boggy, and South Boggy. This usage appears to have referred more to specific regions of the watershed than to characteristics of the creek itself.

Choctaw Indians The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw ...

began relocating to the

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, ...

and the Muddy Boggy basin during the 1830s, reestablishing what is today called the

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

and its government. Choctaws divided their nation into three administrative and judicial provinces, or districts, with each province being subdivided into counties. The

Pushmataha District Pushmataha District was one of three provinces, or districts, 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 named ...

used the creek or its tributaries to form boundaries between

Atoka County Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,143. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief named ...

Jack's Fork County {{More footnotes, date=July 2022 Jack's Fork County, also known as Jack Fork County, was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory. The county formed part of the nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three ...

, Jackson County and

Kiamitia County Kiamitia County, also known as Kiamichi County, was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. The county formed part of the nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative super-regions. Kiamiti ...

. The District's administrative and judicial capital, Mayhew, was said to be positioned "between the forks of the Boggies".

Ferries and Bridges

Muddy Boggy was historically an impediment to travel in the region, due to its forks and also its main characteristic: muddy banks enclosing a fairly deep channel, making it difficult to ford. Three ferry boats plied the river during much of the territorial and early statehood days. Ferry operations were licensed by the Choctaw Government via Acts of the General Council, which determined pricing for each crossing and established each ferry operation as an individual franchise. An important ferry operated north of what is now Boswell, Oklahoma, along the road from

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, then an important farming center, to the capital of the Pushmataha District, or province, at Mayhew. A second ferry operated along the same road, where it crossed Muddy Boggy just below the mouth of McGee Creek. A third ferry operated one mile north of Atoka, Indian Territory (now

Atoka, Oklahoma Atoka is a city in and the county seat of Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,195 as of the 2020 Census, a 2.4% increase over the 3,107 reported at the 2010 census, which was itself an increase of 4.0 percent from th ...

), near Harkins Spring. This may have been the busiest ferry of the three as it was closest to a town, and was along the Bullerfield Overland Mail, an important stagecoach line between Fort Smith, Arkansas and Boggy Depot, Indian Territory. At some point during the late territorial period the ferry boat was replaced by a toll bridge. Bridges across the Muddy Boggy and its forks remained a novelty until a concerted period of highway planning and construction began to accompany the expanding private ownership of automobiles following World War One. The first bridge to cross Muddy Boggy east of Atoka, between Lane and Farris, was built in 1919. The first bridge over the creek along the highway between Durant and Hugo was built near Boswell in 1930.

Impounding the Waters

Following World War II, a series of dams was authorized by Congress along the main stem of the Red River of the South and its major tributaries, including the Muddy Boggy. These were primarily for flood control, but also for recreation and tourism. The dam on Muddy Boggy would have been three miles west of Soper, immediately north of the state highway, and created a lake called the Boswell Reservoir. Although the dam continues to be authorized, no funds have ever been appropriated for it due to a perceived lack of enthusiasm by local residents. Other dams authorized by Congress as part of the flood control project were built at Denison, Texas (

Lake Texoma Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th-largest US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) lake, and the largest in USACE Tulsa District. Lake Texoma is formed by Denison Dam on the Red River in Bryan County, Oklah ...

) and Sawyer, Oklahoma (

Hugo Lake Hugo Lake is manmade lake located east of Hugo, in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. It is formed by Hugo Lake Dam on the Kiamichi River upstream from the Red River. The dam is visible from U.S. Route 70, which crosses its spillwa ...

), among other locations.

Events of Note

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in the Indian Territory, a military engagement between Union and Confederate forces took place in the Choctaw Nation north of

Boggy Depot ''Boggy Depot'' is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. The vinyl edition was released on March 31, 1998, and the CD was released on April 7, 1998, through Columbia Records. The album was named after the ...

, Indian Territory. The Battle of Middle Boggy, in February 1864, was fought over control of an important crossing of Muddy Boggy (or Middle Boggy) Creek and resulted in a Union victory. After the battle the Confederate army ceased to be an organized military force in the Indian Territory, leading in part to the

Battle of Fort Smith The Battle of Fort Smith was fought on July 31, 1864, in Sebastian County, Arkansas, during the American Civil War. Background In the wake of the failed Camden Expedition, areas of Arkansas lay prone to cavalry raids against Union outposts. ...

in August 1864 and the fort's surrender to Union forces.“Middle Boggy, Battle of.” ''Oklahoma Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=MI006. Accessed on Apr. 4, 2023.

Notes

References

External links

Hydrology Prediction for Muddy Boggy CreekOklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Rivers of Oklahoma Rivers of Hughes County, Oklahoma Rivers of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma Rivers of Coal County, Oklahoma Rivers of Atoka County, Oklahoma Rivers of Choctaw County, Oklahoma Tributaries of the Red River of the South