General Douglas Hancock Cooper

Cooper had served as a captain under Jefferson Davis in the 1st Mississippi Rifles in the Mexican War, and Davis's influence won him the Choctaw agency. In 1860, living near Tishomingo in the Chickasaw Nation, he held eleven people in slavery. They gained their freedom under the Treaty of 1866, which abolished slavery in the Chickasaw Nation, and their descendants, still in Oklahoma, have held family reunions for more than 140 years. The Chickasaw had adopted Cooper into a family as a full member, and in 1858 he led Choctaw and Chickasaw volunteers against Comanche raiders.

What the plaque says

General Douglas Hancock Cooper "Kind and sympathetic by nature, generous to a fault, he was an honest man of noble impulses, and born and bred a gentleman." These were the words of a contemporary of Brigadier General Douglas Cooper, C.S.A. Cooper was appointed U.S. agent to Choctaws, 1853, and to the Chickasaws, 1856. Under his supervision the two agencies were consolidated and office was located at Fort Washita. With outbreak of War Between the States, Cooper was designated by his friend Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, to be Choctaw-Chickasaw agent, C.S.A. In June 1861 he was appointed commander of Choctaw- Chickasaw Mounted Riflemen, C.S.A., and saw action in many hard battles. Recognition of his military ability led to his being promoted to commander of Indian Territory Military District, C.S.A. In 1865 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for District of Indian Territory, Trans-Mississippi, C.S.A. General Cooper was born in Mississippi, November 1, 1815, and died at Fort Washita, Chickasaw Nation, April 29, 1879. He lies buried on these grounds in an unmarked and unknown grave. Oklahoma Historical Society 1966

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Choctaw Cultural Center — 12 mi
  The Choctaw Nation's history told from the Chahta side at Calera, with galleries from Nanih Waiya to the Trail of Tears and the reservation today, a living village and daily stickball.
• Chickasaw National Capitol — 12 mi
  The red granite capitol the Chickasaw Nation finished at Tishomingo in 1898, forced out of at statehood, used as the county courthouse for most of a century and reclaimed by the Nation in 1992.

More markers nearby

• Fort Washita — steps away
• Fort McCulloch — 8.1 mi
• Nail's Crossing — 9.1 mi
• Fisher's Station — 9.7 mi