Muriel and Boggy

In 1927, Muriel H. Wright, a teacher and one of Oklahoma's most detailed historians, mapped Boggy Depot (Atoka County, Oklahoma) from memories collected by her, her family, and other inhabitants. Today, Boggy Depot is a state park managed by the Choctaws, and the outline of the town is barely discernible.

Muriel Wright was the granddaughter of Rev. Allen Wright, principal chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1866 to 1870. She was born in Lehigh, Coal County, in 1889. Due to her prolific writing and research, she was one of the first people inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

The Boggy Depot cemetery is a treasure trove of Indian Territory history - graves include Choctaw and Chickasaw nation citizens. While none of the town's buildings exist anymore, the outlines are still discernible if you don't mind taking a walk. The Butterfield Overland Stagecoach made a stop at Boggy Depot before the Civil War, and if you squint, you can still make out ruts. On my sojourns through this very historic area, I did find a remnant of old Boggy Depot - a daubed log cabin, surrounded (and protected) by later additions.