In June of 1864 the Federal steamboat, the Jr R. Williams left Fort Smith and headed west up the Arkansas River toward Fort Gibson. General Stand Watie found out about the boat's voyage and decided to capture it. Watie was the only Indian general in the Confederate army. His Indian troops set up three cannon on now called Catfish Bluff and waited for the Williams to round the bend. The first round plowed through the pilothouse. The 25 or so Union troops skedaddled off the boat a swam to the north bank ( Watie's troops were on the south bank). The disabled and abandoned Williams drifted to the south side near the town of Tamaha. There Watie's Indian troops quickly removed about $120,000 worth of supplies. It is said the cargo was cloth, clothing, blankets and foodstuffs. The families of the Indians who fought with Watie had suffered a bad winter months before. Many of Watie's troops took off to their families with the captured loot. Many never returned. The area today is Kerr Lake. Tamaha is still there; but it is no longer a major river port It is a small town that takes a 10 mile ride on a dirt road to get to. We lived aboard the Starship Vixen (our 32 foot Morgan sailboat) on the northeast corner of Kerr for two years. It is a wonderfully wild and wooly part of the country. Belle Starr was ambushed and murdered near where the Canada River enters the Arkansas. We had many fine sailing trips on that River. I once tracked a cougar through the woods. Stand Watie was probably the last Confederate general to put down the sword. There is local legend that the J R Williams had $20,000 in federal gold on her that the Indians overlooked; and that it still sits on the bottom of the Arkansas River.....somewhere. Just one of those small things that make the Civil War so dang intriguing.
Calicoboy
Calicoboy
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