Hi all: I am new to the list and am looking for any SMITHs who might have owned a cotton plantation/farm at Bright Star between the end of the war and about 1890. My 2gr. grfth. and his wife were Choctaw indians who came to Miller Co. and worked for someone named SMITH who grew cotton and shipped it up the Red River. They probably came in accordance with the Treaty of 1820 that gave the Choctaws land that included old Miller Co. They took the SMITH name and somehow either purchased or inherited a portion of the land at Bright Star. The story is that my gr. grfth. was shot off his horse and killed by "carpetbaggers", exact date unknown. One of their daughters, my gr. grmth. was MARY JANE SMITH who married Richard E. MARKHAM of Miller Co. (son of Robert Markham and Sarah Damron) about 1882, but have been unable to find marriage records. They removed to Texarkana where they raised a family. She died in childbirth about 1902. Was there a newspaper in Miller Co. at that time that would have reported this incident? Any leads would be appreciated. Thanks. sherry dustyc@microgear.net