Arkansas
Choctaw Township, Arkansas
Name: The Varner Unit
Population: When it opened, it could accommodate 300 prisoners; its capacity was increased to 700 and then to around 1,700.
Founded: 1987
Who Owns It: Arkansas Department of Corrections
Land History:
Choctaw is in the Arkansas Ozarks.
In 1803, a large swathe of land was taken from the French in the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson decided to move all Native Americans east of the Mississippi River to the new territory. (Charles, Bolton S. 264) In the War of 1812, the Choctaw joined the Americans to defeat the British. By 1818, Stephen Long reported that a substantial community of “Chacktaw” lived south of the Arkansas River. However, there was no significant presence of Choctaw in what would become the state of Arkansas. (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
In 1820, the Choctaw signed a Treaty of Doak’s Stand, which swapped some Mississippi land for a large portion of Arkansas Territory. (Charles, Bolton S. 270) The U.S. government had a mixed-blood Choctaw, Edmond Folsom, persuade the Choctaw to move to the treaty’s land. The treaty was quarreled over by the white colonizers of Arkansas Territory because it encompassed land where white settlers had already made their homes and threatened their “manifest destiny.” This treaty was adjusted by 1825 to include a smaller portion of land. (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
The federal government had no familiarity with moving large numbers of people. As soon as the treaty was ratified, it appointed two directors to the assignment. One was to collect the Choctaw, arrange for agents to accompany each detachment, and take them to the western side of the Mississippi River. The other’s job was to handle arrangements on the west side of the river and provide survival for one year after arrival in the native land. The removals under the treaty were to transpire over three years. The plan was for the tribe to be removed across Arkansas each fall. (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
The Choctaw were late leaving in the Choctaw Trail of Tears, and the worst blizzard in the region’s history decimated people in the removals the first year. A cholera epidemic harmed the nation the following year’s expulsions. In the final year, the migration went more smoothly. After the Choctaw reached newly appointed native land, they began to build homes and the more affluent developed plantations. (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
By 1840, the U.S. had removed tens of thousands of Native Americans from their lands along the Trail of Tears. More than 5,000 people died along the way. (Blakemore, Erin, NatGeo) When removals under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which also included a higher education provision in them, were complete, there were still Choctaw who had not been removed. (Crum, Steven,49) Official removal efforts continued up to the Civil War on a smaller scale. In Choctaw Confederates, Fay A. Yarbrough describes how the Choctaw wanted to remain neutral during the Civil War but soon decided to align with the Confederacy. They formed their troops to support the South. (Yarbrough)
The Confederacy’s loss meant that the tribes were forced to discuss new treaties with the U.S. government. They were forced to cede territory. The federal government also mandated that they sell their western lands. (Oklahoma Historical Society)
The result of the Civil War was to undermine tribal governments. The conflict opened Native Territory to exploitation by railroads and non-Indian ranchers, coal miners, and commercial entrepreneurs. Although the Choctaw Nation had tried to regulate the doings of white colonizers by enacting fees and licenses and regulating marriage between tribal citizens and non-natives, the nation was quickly overwhelmed by noncitizens. (Kidwell)
** On Arkansas and the Trail of Tears, see the documentation and analysis done by the Sequoyah Research Center of the American Native Press Archives at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock: http://ualrexhibits.org/trailoftears/
Unusual Facts:
In 2017, Arkansas had scheduled eight executions over 11 days before one of its lethal injection drugs expired at the end of that April, the most in such a compressed period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Among the four lethal injections was a double execution, the first in the United States since 2000. Courts issued stays for four other inmates. The Cummings Unit at Varner hosted some of the lethal injections. (DeMello and Kissel)
While not in Choctaw, Little Rock, Arkansas, was one of the first areas to attempt desegregation in schools. The Little Rock Crisis followed the enrollment of 9 Black high school students. The students were initially prohibited from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, and numerous white mobs. (History )
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports teaching people’s history in classrooms across the country. Since 2008, the Zinn Education Project has introduced students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than traditional textbooks and curricula. With more than 140,000 people registered and growing by more than 15,000 new registrants every year, the Zinn Education Project has become a leading resource for teachers and educators. : https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/little-rock-9/
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