At Monroe Mission Station northwest of here, the Chickasaws first received Christianity and education in 1822. Five years later, 100 acres were under cultivation and 81 pupils were attending the school. Boys learned farming and carpentry, and girls learned spinning and weaving in addition to classroom work. More than 150 persons were baptized in the church, a diminutive room not over 16 by 16. In front was a large arbor, covered with brush and seeded with puncheons for summer meetings. Monroe and three other stations were the training centers for many who became leaders of the Chickasaws in Oklahoma.
