Editing Pushmataha County, Oklahoma (section)

===Prehistory and exploration===
During prehistoric times, Pushmataha County was part of the territory during the [[Woodland period|Middle Woodland period]] of the [[Fourche Maline culture]]. Over time, and possibly through contact with the Middle [[Mississippian culture]] to their northeast, the Fourche Maline became the [[Caddoan Mississippian culture]]. Their center was at [[Spiro Mounds]], near [[Spiro, Oklahoma]]. The elite organized the construction of complex earthwork mounds for burial and ritual ceremonial purposes, arranged around a large plaza that had been carefully graded. This center of political and religious leadership had a trade territory encompassing the full extent of the [[Kiamichi River]] and [[Little River (Red River)|Little River]] valleys.<ref>Claudette Marie Gilbert and Robert L. Brooks, ''From Mounds to Mammoths—A Field Guide to Oklahoma Prehistory'', page 74.</ref> This 80-acre site is preserved as Oklahoma's only Archeological State Park. The larger Mississippian culture traded from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.

North America's history changed after the arrival of Europeans in 1492 under [[Christopher Columbus]] in the Caribbean. In the 16th century, European explorers began to enter the North American interior, seeking fame, treasures, and conquests on behalf of their empires.

[[File:Caddoan Mississippian culture map HRoe 2010.jpg|thumb|225px|left|Map showing extent of the [[Caddoan Mississippian culture]], including [[Spiro Mounds]] and the [[Kiamichi River]] valley.]]

France's [[Bernard de la Harpe]] explored the area of the modern Pushmataha County in 1719, in the era when France was establishing settlements on the Gulf Coast. They had founded [[New Orleans]] the year before. De la Harpe's exploration of the [[Mississippi River]] valley was part of an effort to seek trade with the native peoples and also a route to [[New Mexico]]. After this time France claimed this region of North America as La Louisiane. It explored Canada to the north from the Atlantic coast along the [[St. Lawrence River]] valley, where it founded New France.<ref>Goins, ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'', p. 13; William H. Goetzmann and Glyndwr Williams, ''Atlas of North American Exploration'', pp. 92–93.</ref>

The area that became Pushmataha County was bought by the United States from France as part of the large [[Louisiana Purchase]] in 1803.

The first American explorer to set foot in the modern county was Major [[Stephen H. Long]] in 1817. He was followed in 1819 by [[Thomas Nuttall]], a scientist. Both explored the [[Kiamichi River]] valley, which Nuttall described in detail.<ref>Thomas Nuttall, ''A Journal of Travels into the Arkansas Territory During the Year 1819'', pp. 163–177; Goins, ''Historical Atlas'', p. 16.</ref>

The [[Red River of the South|Red River]] became an international boundary in 1819 when the United States concluded the [[Adams-Onis Treaty]] with the [[Spanish Empire]]. Fortifying the [[frontier]] from Spanish incursion, and securing it against potential uprisings by [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]], was important to United States policy. The federal government established a chain of [[forts]] along its southern border.<ref>John W. Morris, ''Boundaries of Oklahoma'', p. 27.</ref>

[[Fort Towson]], established at the mouth of Gates Creek on the Kiamichi River, just upstream from its confluence with the Red River, was charged with providing security for the region encompassing modern Pushmataha County. As the fort was built in what was considered frontier wilderness, the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] constructed a military road connecting Fort Towson with [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]] for purposes of supply and provision. Passing through the Little River valley, this military road was Pushmataha County's first modern [[roadway]]. It lapsed into disuse after Fort Towson was abandoned after the [[American Civil War]]. Traces of the road may still be seen.<ref>[[Odie B. Faulk]], Kenny A. Franks, and Paul F. Lambert, ''Early Military Forts and Posts in Oklahoma'', pp. 3, 9–11.</ref>