The stone barracks were constructed before the war, I'm told. They are half their original length. The stone of the other half was used to build houses in the area. The US government abandoned the fort in 1857 and it became the property of the Cherokee Nation. There were plans to move the capital there from Tahlequah and rename the town "Keetoowah". Stories say there was too much vice around the old fort and the idea was dropped. By the start of the Civil War, the stone buildings were standing but it is beleived only the blockhouses remained of the old stockade fort.