Skullyville

Skullyville was founded in 1832 while the removal of Choctaws to what is now Oklahoma was in process. First Choctaw Agency in the West was established here with Major F.W. Armstrong as an agent.

The name Skullyville was derived from the Choctaw word “Iskuli” meaning a piece of money. It was here Choctaws received annuity payments and hence referred to the place as “Money Town” or Skullyville.

There were three districts in the Choctaw Nation with Skullyville being the capitol of one.

Catlin, the artist, stopped here for a time in 1834. When Chickasaws moved west in 1838 many I landed from boats at Fort Coffee and went through Skullyville to new homes farther west. The Seminoles also came this way going west.

With the establishment of the Butterfield - Overland Mail Route between St. Louis and San Francisco, in 1858, one of the stations was at Skullyville and operated by Tandy Walker.

This center of Choctaw culture and political life began to decline at the close of the Civil War and when the old agency building was destroyed by fire in 1947, Skullyville became only a memory.