Big Skin Bayou , also known as Skin Bayou or Big Skin Creek , is a tributary of the Arkansas River located in Sequoyah County , Oklahoma . It takes its name from the French word " skein " which are loose , tangled layers of yarn . A large , colorful canebrake resembling yarn ; formed a near impenetrable , natural wall near the mouth of the creek before it was cleared for farming . French trappers and explorers named several of the major tributaries of the Arkansas River in Oklahoma ; as it was once a part of the French Territory of Louisiana that was later the Louisiana Purchase . At one time , there were large rock bluffs near Big Skin 's confluence with the Arkansas ( most of these bluffs were later destroyed to provide rock fill for the W.D. Mayo Lock and Dam ) . The bluff on the south side ( LeFLore County side ) of the river and across from Big Skin 's confluence was known as Swallow Rock , named for the birds that nested there and was the site of the old Fort Coffee . The bluff on the north side of the river ( Sequoyah County side ) and west of Big Skin is known as Wilson Rock ( on some maps listed as Wilson 's Rock ) . Both bluffs formed a natural wharf and served as historic steamboat landings and ferry crossings . The cemetery at Wilson Rock contains the graves of local residents as well as some travelers that fell victim to the river over the years . Tiana , the wife of the famed Texan Sam Houston was buried at Wilson Rock Cemetery for several years until she was moved to a cemetery near Fort Gibson . Wilson Rock and Big Skin Bayou were also drop off points for several groups of Cherokees that were forced to relocate to that part of Oklahoma/Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears . The relocated tribesmen that disembarked here would then follow the creek into the interior parts of Skin Bayou District where they settled . Most of eastern Sequoyah County was included in the " Skin Bayou District " of Cherokee Nation , Indian Territory ; which also took its name from the creek
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Big Skin Bayou