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Chahta Tomaha

The Armstrong Academy

Armstrong Academy was founded as a school for Choctaw boy's in 1844. It was named after William Armstrong, a popular government agent of the Choctaws. The first year the Academy opened late because the buildings were not yet finished. the first classes actually started December 2, 1845 with just around 33 students. In their class eighteen of them began with alphabet, four with two letters and four with easy reading, three in Mcguffey's First Reader and two in the Second Reader. The school was attended only by boys and the manual labor plan, which was stressed consisted chiefly in clearing and cultivating the farm which provided largely for the support of the school. The school was under the American Indian Missions Association To the Domestic Board of Southern Baptist. Its location was established in the western half of the Pushmataha district, the Reverend Ramsay D. Potts was assigned as the Superintendent. In a letter to Captain William Armstrong dated Sept. 1st 1845 the schools location was described as being two miles south of the road leading to Fort Towson to Fort Washita, fifty - five miles west of the former and thirty miles east of the later. It is near the dividing ridge of the waters of Boggy and the Blue river and twenty miles northwest of the nearest point of the Red river. The site was selected because there was a good fresh water spring with enough current to run a gristmill and a large wood supply .

The first classroom buildings and dormitories were built of log from the area. In the late 1850's a brick building replaced the log building. A two story brick building addition was added later. a Trading Post, Blacksmith shop, Church and US Post office were established at this time.

As a school the average attendance of indian pupils was around 65 students though in1859 it had around 100 students.
The mission was transferred from the American Indian Mission Association to the Domestic Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The Baptist Missionary Society of Louisville, Kentucky directed activities until 1855. In that year it was turned over to the Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Forein and Domestic Missions who directed it until it closed in 1861at the outbreak of the Civil war. Allen Wright, then a Choctaw Presbyterian missionary, served as principal instructor at the Academy during 1855-1856.
Armstrong Academy was located in Blue county, Choctaw Nation until 1886, when the area became part of the newly formed county, Jackson County.

During the Civil War the Academy closed. Part of the building was used as a Confederate Hospital. The Choctaw Council met there in 1863 , and the same year became the county seat on February 18th and the same year the Choctaw Capital.

The United Nations Indian Territory delegates ( Cherikee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole and Caddo } met there with the confederacy to plan war strategies.

Chahta Tamaha remained the Capital of the Choctaw Nation until 1883, when the capital was relocated to Tuskahoma. In that same year the Armstrong Academy again became a school, but only for orphan boy;s because the demand to go there was so desired. This was at the height of the school the local industries were strong the Armstrong was once described as being set in a very picturesque were they kept the tree's around the school white washed up four feet.

The Armstrong Academy was destroyed by fire on January 20th on a Tuesday around 1:30 in the morning by a defective flue in one of the chimneys as reported by P. Cole one of the students . This story was also told to the Rose family by relatives that lived on the property just across the creek, Mr. and Mrs W. F. Hall ( known as pappa Hall ) by the four Rose girls form their grandmothers side.
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