Fort Washita is located within the Chickasaw Nation thirteen miles east of Madill or sixteen miles west of Durant, Oklahoma on State Highway 199
Fort Washita was built in 1842 as the southwestern-most military post of the United States. The mission of Fort Washita was to maintain peace for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations within their new lands, pursuant to treaty obligations. There were many outside threats to the new home of the Chickasaw people, including attacks by Republic of Texas militia, interference by unscrupulous intruders, constant raids by Plains tribes, the presence of traders and trappers, and unsettled scores with some of the Plains tribes due to disputes concerning hunting grounds in the Homeland. Fort Washita operated as a United States military post until the start of the Civil War in 1861. It was then occupied by Confederate forces through 1865. The fort was almost entirely destroyed by the Confederates as they fled at the end of the Civil War.
