_Lake Raymond Gary Properties_

You must visit Raymond Gary State Park. It's a favorite spot to spend time if you live in Fort Towson, around Lake Raymond Gary, Sawyer, Hugo, or Valliant, in Southeast Oklahoma.

Raymond Gary state park is enjoyed by everyone. It's a great place for:

Fishing: 

In the past, The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife has conducted electrofishing surveys  on the lakes in Oklahoma.  The last data that I could locate was released in February of 2003.  According to that article on the Kansas Angler Website:

"Among lakes smaller than 1,000 acres, Adair Recreation Lake in Adair County produced the most bass per hour during spring electrofishing surveys conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

In terms of overall numbers, Adair Lake produced 198 bass per hour of electrofishing, a big jump from last year when it yielded 124 bass per hour. Ranking second was Mountain Lake in Garvin County with nearly 183 bass per hour, followed by Lake Raymond Gary in Choctaw County (128 bass per hour), Taylor Lake in Grady County (124 bass per hour) and American Horse Lake in Blaine County (122 bass per hour)."

Lake Raymond Gary is managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, it is not a corp of engineer lake.  They routinely stock it with catfish. The crappie and bass are popular catches at the lake also!

 

Daily/Minimum Size Limits: All species of black bass; six (6) combined per day, of which only one (1) may be 22 inches or longer / 16- to 22-inch protected slot limit. Channel and/or blue catfish; six (6) per day / no size limit.
Methods: Fishing limited to only two (2) rods and reels per person. Fishing limited to rod and reel and bowfishing. No other method of fishing allowed.

There are two boat ramps in the park and ample parking for your truck and boat trailer while you're on the water.

 

Camping: 

 

120 Campsites - Raymond Gary offer both RV sites with full hookups and tent sites.  Many of the RV sites have concrete patios and concrete picnic tables.  There are two group pavilions also that can reserved. Amenities include comfort stations with showers (hot water).

 

Playground:

 

Many local families make use of the park for it's playground for their children.  Usually the week-end brings families with a picnic and the camera.

 

Cabin Rentals: There are several cabins available, some with bath, some with fireplaces. 

 

Swimming:  There is a swim beach available. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canoe Rentals: Ask the park manager when you get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures of the cabins, boat ramps, and playground will be uploaded this week-end.

 

 

 

Doaksville,named for Josiah Doak, was founded between 1824- 1831.

Doak had been co-owner of the Mississippi trading post where a Choctaw removal treaty was negotiated in 1820.

He and his brother preceded the Choctaws to what is now SE Oklahoma.

Doaksville was the Choctaw Indian Nation Capital from 1850 until 1863. It was the largest town in the Choctaw Indian Nation. 

 

The very last Confederate general to surrender, ending the Civil war, happened at Doaksville when General Stand Watie (the only Indian to become a field general in The civil war) surrendered June 23, 1865,nine weeks after Robert E. Lee surrendered.  Doaksville became quite a center for commerce in this frontier area with a jail, hotel, gristmill, blacksmith, several general stores, and a tavern. The Choctaw Nation published 2 newspapers from Doaksville. It is located about a mile north of what is now the town of Fort Towson "Excavations at Doaksville represent the most widespread for a town in the Indian Territory and provide a collection of unprecedented scope from the 1840s to 1860s period." The Oklahoma Archeological Survey has a webpage about the Doaksville excavations here.

 

 

The west way to find Doaksville is to go into the Fort Towson Cemetery to the NE corner and take the steps that go over the stone wall that surrounds the cemetery.

 The original Fort Towsonwas built in 1824, , under Col. Matthew Arbuckle, as a frontier outpost for Frontier Army Quartermasters to protect travelers and the Choctaws that were arriving from the Mississippi Valley and settling in nearby Doaksville , Indian Territory, which later became Oklahoma. Fort Towson was the first fort established on the western frontier and west of the Mississippi River by the federal government. Fort Towson was named for Nathaniel Towson, Paymaster General of the Army and originally called "Cantonment Towson.  The Original Fort Towson is located east and north of the current town of Fort Towson. Its location is an Oklahoma Historic Site and on the National Register of Historic Places.  Doaksville lies about a mile west of the old fort grounds.

 

Fort Towson and Southeast Oklahoma are rich in Native American History. If you enjoy outings of an historical nature, you'll enjoy living in SE Oklahoma. Or just come for a visit, you may decide to stay.

 

Call Judi Barrett at Integrity Real Estate Services about relocating to SE Oklahoma.

580-212-5946

judi@integrity-realestate.net

 

These great photos were used with the permission of Ron Henson, the Rootsweb County Co-ordinator far Choctaw County. That's another great thing about Choctaw county-all of the great genealogy resources. If you click on the pictures, they are linked to the photo page for the Choctaw County Rootsweb page. If you click here, gorier be taken to their home page.