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1909 Map of Winding Stair

Name: 1909 Topographic Map of Winding Stair
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1928
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1928

About this map

Winding Stair Mountain and Kiamichi Mountain dominate this Choctaw Nation landscape during a period of significant industrial expansion. The northern portion of the territory is defined by a dense network of competing rail lines, including the St Louis and San Francisco RR and the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific RR, which connect early coal-mining and timber settlements like Fanshawe, Wister, and Heavener. The presence of the Kansas City Southern RR slicing north-to-south through the ridges illustrates how transportation corridors were forced through the narrow gaps of the Ouachita Mountains.

South of the high ridges, the character of the land shifts toward the winding Kiamichi River, where smaller agricultural and timber outposts like Whitesboro and Muse are found. The map also captures the Little River drainage in the far south near Ludlow, showing a more isolated terrain where the Woods Trail provides one of the few named overland routes through the deep timber of Le Flore and McCurtain counties.