From the Chickasaw Nation to Skullyville

The Treaty of 1866 abolished slavery in the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nation. For many however, living in Chickasaw country, that was not easily adhered to, and many people who were being held enslaved, had a difficult situation to face.
some Chickasaw held slaves were sold on the auction block illegally after slavery ended, in spite of their leaders having signed the Treaty.

Some former soldiers returning home, found that their families were still held in bondage and they were then threatened with death if they were to return in their Union Army uniforms. One group of individuals wrote a letter to the Fort Smith Freedmen's Bureau office seeking assistance. The result was that Federal soldiers had to intervene to have the enslaved, released. One interesting case is gleaned from an interview found in the Indian Pioneer Papers.

Indian Pioneer Papers, interview with William Nail, of the Choctaw Nation.

For those Union army soldiers returning home, their fears and concerns were expressed in a letter to the Freedmen's Bureau. I wrote a detailed article about their letter in a blog post several years ago.

The tensions felt by many former slaves in Chickasaw country, brought about a small migration of former Chickasaw slaves to the Choctaw Nation, and into what is now Le Flore County. That area at the time was Skullyville County, and it became home for numerous Chickasaw Freedmen, who found life unbearable in the rural parts of the Chickasaw Nation. Thus many of those seeking a more peaceful and welcoming life, found their home in Skullyville, and many of their descendants remain there to this day.

Ardena Darneal's mother was Fanny Parks a, Chickasaw Freedwoman. Like others from Chickasaw. Fanny found the Oak Lodge community in Skullyville to be a better place. Subsequently shd had a relationship with Silas Darneal, a Choctaw man from the local area, with whom she had a child, Ardena. 

The family remained in the Skullyville Oak Lodge area, and descendants are still present and active, in the same part of the old Skullyville Community today. Those struggle to establish a new life in freedom, found some peace and were able to plant their family seeks on the soil of Skullyville, where their legacy is strong.