Federal Allies

When John Horse returned from Washington, he found scores of black laborers and their families working at Fort Gibson under the protection of the Army. Blacks were in the process of building the old stone commissary and other masonry structures at the fort. Still visible today, these buildings pay stoic tribute to the endurance of the maroons during a difficult time.

The wooden beams and stone bricks also hint at another story -- a fascinating social relationship that was taking shape on the Plains.