Honest Mistakes Happen
As the sign reads:
A Disputed Boundary
This was Indian country in 1825. The Choctaw Treaty of that year placed the Indian Territory's boundary "...one hundred paces east of Fort Smith, and running thence, due south, to the Red River."
When government surveyors inspected the eastern boundary in 1857, they discovered that the original 1825 survey had not run "due south," but slightly southwest. After lengthy deliberation, Federal court officials decided to keep the 1825 boundary and pay the Choctaw Nation $68,102 for the land between the two survey lines.
Honest Mistakes Happen
As the sign reads:
A Disputed Boundary
This was Indian country in 1825. The Choctaw Treaty of that year placed the Indian Territory's boundary "...one hundred paces east of Fort Smith, and running thence, due south, to the Red River."
When government surveyors inspected the eastern boundary in 1857, they discovered that the original 1825 survey had not run "due south," but slightly southwest. After lengthy deliberation, Federal court officials decided to keep the 1825 boundary and pay the Choctaw Nation $68,102 for the land between the two survey lines.