The Oklahoma Land Runs: Myth or Mystery? Part 2

 

Oklahoma Land Openings Map
Used with permission from the Oklahoma Historical Society

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez



Thank you for joining us this month as we look into the history of the Oklahoma Land Runs.

Last month, we covered the history leading up to the allowance of white settlement in the Indian Territory by the US government, and of the first or the “Great Land Run”. This month, we are diving into several other of the Land Runs, as there were more than most people think.

After the success of the first Land Run, the federal government was pressured into opening more and more lands within the Indian Territory. Unfortunately, those lands were still in the hands of the tribes that were living there as part of their assignment proceeding the different conflicts, for example, the War Between The States, and the Red River War.

The US government, overlooking the existing treaties, opened the lands up for white settlement over the course of more than a decade, the first Land Run happening in 1889, the final one happening in 1901.

There was a set of five in 1891 which opened of the Shawnee lands, just to the east of the Unassigned Territory (which opened on April 22, 1889). The next four Land Runs, also taking place in 1891, the Shawnee lands became Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties, with Tecumseh and Chandler being their county seats, respectively.

The next Land Run was in 1892, the opening of the Comanche and Arapaho lands in the southwestern part of the state. This Land Run was important as many of the best plots of land that were opened for white settlement were given to the Indian Scouts that served with the army. Many of the scouts were able to take some of the more choice allotments of land as payment for their service to the Army.

   

"Boomers Camp, Arkansa City, Kansas. Waiting for the Strike to Open
May 1st, 1893"
Public Domain

The next and final Great Land Run was that of the Cherokee Outlet, or the Cherokee Strip, in 1893. This Land Run opened much of the Northwestern part of what is now the state of Oklahoma (minus the panhandle). This Land Run gave us towns such as Enid, Woodward, Seiling, Vici, Slap Out and Laverne.

This Land Run was, in some ways, more famous than the first, as it opened the mostly tall plains grassland, and the arid desert regions of the northwestern part of the state.

When most people think of Oklahoma, they think of the region that is in the north central part of the state, normally. This part of the state is empty prairie lands, as we like to call it “miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.”

It was after the Land Run of the Kickapoo lands between the Shawnee lands and the Unassigned Territory in 1895, that the federal government determined that the problems that crop up with the large-scale Land Runs was too much trouble. So the large-scale land allotments were handled by sealed bid.

 

"Land Openings"
Used with permission from the
Oklahoma Historical Society

 
There were several sealed-bid allotments of land, to include the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, the Wichita-Caddo Reservation, and the Big Pasture.

The final Land Run was in the town of Arcadia in the eastern part of Oklahoma County in 1901. It was allowing settlers to choose individual town plots within its district only. The town of Arcadia today has been annexed into Edmond and consists of several homes and one of the man-made lakes, Lake Arcadia.

Thank you for joining us this last couple of months as we looked into the history of the Land Runs of Oklahoma. If you are interesting in digging deeper in to the history of these historic events, please feel free to contact the Oklahoma Historical society, the regional and town Historical Societies, or preferably an older resident of the area you are inquiring about. Thank you, and have a blessed day!

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Judge was born and raised in Little Axe, Oklahoma, the son of A.F. Veterans. Judge and Alanna love the history of the state and relish in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her second published story, part of a collaborative novella titled 18 Rebud Lane, came out March 2019. Alanna and Judge live with her parents in the Edmond area. They are currently collaborating on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Oklahoma.

Facebook.com/authorAlannaRadleRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/
Amazon

Oklahoma History: Fort Supply: The Grocer of the West

Fort Supply, Photo Courtesy of the OHS Photo Archives

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez


For this blog, I was able to get my history-loving-does-research-better-than-I husband to join me. I hope you enjoy this next installment of Oklahoma Forts.


In the Indian Territory, there were a series of forts that helped supply the numerous demands of not only the infantry, but the cavalry. In this series of articles we have named the “Forts of Oklahoma”, we have covered several so far. Now, here is the next. Fort Supply: Grocer of the West

In 1868, the Indian Territory looked much different from what the state of Oklahoma does now. The primary difference was the lack of the panhandle. A supply camp was established by the Department of the Army close to the northwest corner of the Indian Territory on November 18th 1868, to support General Sheridan’s war against the southern plains tribes. Original maps describe it simply as “Camp of Supply”. 

Opera House, Photo Courtesy of OHS Photo Archives

This camp was situated close to the opening of the Cherokee Strip, on the banks of a creek. The camp was located approximately fifteen miles northwest of current-day Woodward, Oklahoma. Approximately ten days after its formation, General Custer rode out of the camp with the 7th Cavalry, to suppress the Washita tribe led by Chief Black Kettle in the now famous—or rather infamous—Battle of the Washita. It was also called the Massacre of the Washita.

From 1868 through 1870, the primary function of Camp Supply was to protect the border from both the whites and the Cheyenne and Arapaho. It was also the home of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, under the name of the Darlington Agency. The camp lay largely unmanned from about 1870 until roughly 1874, having only a skeleton crew to support the Darlington Agents.

During the Red River War, from 1874-75, the camp once again served as grocer for the Department of the Army. In December 1878, the camp changed from Camp Supply to Fort Supply, again signifying the change in status from being a temporary camp to a permanent fort.
 

Custer & Sheridan's home at Fort Supply (now a duplex), Western State Hospital, Photo Courtesy of OHS Photo Archives

This also helped to ensure that Fort Supply held a much more significant role in the area. The troops escorted settlers, cattle herds, expelled illegal boomers—people who tried to enter lands before it was time—out of the Cherokee Strip and provided security on trains in southern Kansas against bandits and marauding plains Indians.

The troops maintained security and trade going to the Cherokee Strip throughout the 80’s until 1893, when the Cherokee Strip was opened for settlement in one of the last Land Runs in which Oklahoma is famous for.
 

Fort Supply Building, Photo Courtesy of OHS Photo Archives

One of the last missions troops from Fort Supply performed was bringing an end to the violence of the Enid-Pond Creek Railroad War during the summer of 1894. Troops from both Fort Supply and Fort Reno, under Marshal Dix and his deputies, had been unable to quell the wrecking of trains, destruction of tracks, and demolition of trestles by residents from both communities.

The fort was officially closed in September 1894 and turned over to the Department of the Interior (DOI) in February, 1895. The DOI owned the location until statehood in 1907, when it was turned over to the State of Oklahoma.
 

Fort Supply Hospital Building, Photo Courtesy of OHS Photo Archives

In 1908, the first patients arrived at the new mental health facility housed in the remains of the old fort, creating the first official insane asylum in Oklahoma. The site remained an asylum until 1988, when the Oklahoma Historical Society bought it and named it the Fort Supply State Historical Site. Soon afterwards, a part of the historic grounds was purchased and used to create the William S. Key Correctional Center. 

The Historical Society maintains 5 structures, which include Ordnance Sergeant’s Quarters, Civilian Employee Quarters, Commanding Officer’s Quarters, Duplexed Officers Quarters, and a Guard House. They also maintain a stockade, Army supply wagon, Mountain Howitzer, Cheyenne tipi, as well as numerous exhibits of artifacts and photographs.

It is well worth the trip if you are anywhere near the location or plan to add it to your route.

Building with a vertical log wall, part of one of the original buildings built at Camp Supply in the fall of 1868, Photo Courtesy of OHS Photo Archives

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Alanna loves the history of the state and relishes in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her first published story, part of a collaborative novella titled Legacy Letters, came out September 2016. Alanna lives with her husband and parents in the Edmond area. She is currently working on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Waterloo, Oklahoma.

Facebook.com/AlannaRadleRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/