Photo above: The Lincoln Bridge, built 1909. Right: Sunset over the water at Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Source: National Park Service.

Chickasaw Then

It was a place of many springs in an area the Chickasaw and Choctaw were placed after their Trail of Tears from Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The Chickasaw nation had bought part of the Choctaw Reservation, $530,000 with part of the financial sum owed to them by the U.S. government, $3,000,000, to leave all land east of the Mississippi. Unlike most tribes, they had not previously exchange land for land. The move started on July 4, 1837 with 3,001 Chickasaw. Five hundred would die before they made it to Oklahoma.

Once within the Choctaw territory, the tribe became concerned that the area would grow into a resort, like Hot Springs, so they sold 640 acres to the government to protect the nature. The park, even with all those name changes, became very popular. Two railroad lines spurred to Sulphur, the St. Louis to San Francisco Railway and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. By 1914, Platt National Park outdrew both Yosemite and Yellowstone.

Photo above: Bicentennial view of the Lincoln Bridge in 1976. Photo courtesy National Park Service. Below: Exhibits within the Travertine Nature Center of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Source: National Park Service.

Chickasaw Now

What you have in Chickasaw is a meeting of goals. From a Connecticut Senator Orville Platt just after the turn of the century who saw the need to preserve the thirty-two mineral springs south of the town of Sulphur to a Chickasaw Nation who agreed and sold the land back to the federals who had forced an earlier move, even after they'd sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. Now, across the creeks and lakes, and the grasslands that grow from their shores, you can visit the site of the meeting of the minds on part of a reservation that the Choctaw and Chickasaw were removed to. And what had started out as a story nobody could say was good comes a national park area where families can recreate on foot, boat, and bike. But, along the way and some time during your stay, try to remember the history that got it there, relate it to those in your recreation party, both the good and the bad, and thank the Chickasaw for the splendid preservation of those springs.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, through all those name changes and designations, is now a park in two parts, the Platt Historic District to the north, and the Lake of the Arbuckles area to the south. Both areas provide trails, fresh water, ranger talks and walks, and more. In the Platt District, there's even a bison herd near those original mineral springs. And you ask, why is the park free to use? Well, that was part of the agreement the Chickasaw tribe made with the federal government when selling them the first acreage for the park. Hopefully, it won't be another treaty the government ever backs out of with a tribe. So far, so good. Well, for the most part. There are charges to camp and day use the Lake of the Arbuckles.