In 1807, citizens of Crystal Hill built a road to connect Cadron and Arkansas Post, following an eastward route until reaching the Wattensaw swamps, where they found an Indian path leading south to Arkansas Post; this became the first road built in what would become Arkansas. In 1826 James Erwin bought land along the Cadron/Arkansas Post road, and by 1828 the community of Oakland Grove was established nearby; by 1861 it was known as Austin. Beginning in 1831, Choctaw removal crossed Arkansas Territory, and by 1832 officials improved the Cadron/Arkansas Post road as a cutoff for Choctaws heading to Fort Smith, reducing the journey by 40 miles and keeping these parties out of the Little Rock area. James Erwin became a contractor for food rations, and his land served as a rations stand and camping place for travelers on the road. During 1832 and 1833, about 2,100 Choctaws traveled this route, including Chief Moshulatubbe, who had become Chief of the Northern District of the Choctaw Nation in 1809, had gained warrior status in fighting the Osage, had served with Andrew Jackson against the Muscogees in 1813-1814, and passed Erwin's Stand in November 1832 on his way west. By 1836 Muscogee removal had begun, and Erwin hired out wagons and teams, provided rations for people and animals, and provided blacksmith services. The Muscogee parties using this route began arriving in the summer of 1836, and by the time the last group passed Erwin's Stand in the winter of 1837-1838, about 10,000 Muscogees had traveled this route, with many camping in the area. Captain Francis Belton wrote of the conditions on September 11, 1836, at Erwins, reporting near-constant rain, more than fifty sick, deaths among the weakest, poor wagons, teams, and harness, and roads that were steep, rocky, muddy, and lacking drainage or causeways. Neomathia, a Muscogee leader who resisted removal, was captured with other "hostiles" in Alabama in the summer of 1836, marched in chains ninety miles to Montgomery, transported by steamboat to Rock Roe in Arkansas Territory, and reached Erwin's Stand on August 12, 1836. Opothle Yahola, leader of the Upper Creek faction termed the "friendly" Creeks because they had helped suppress and capture the "hostiles," reached Erwin's Stand with a government-led party on November 6, 1836, and while camped there asked Governor James S. Conway for permission to remain in Arkansas until his party could meet in council with Muscogee factions already in Indian Territory, but Conway refused and instead offered troops to facilitate a meeting at Fort Gibson.