Oklahoma History: Old Fort Reno: Not Just Another Fort - Pt 1

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez


After the War Between the States, the Oklahoma and Indian Territories were a true frontier. The land was ruled by the rough and tumble politics of the gun. The tribes, most of which had supported the Confederacy during the War, were found to be quite fractious. In 1874, the Darlington Agency created what was intended to be a temporary encampment to protect their agents from the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, which were currently staging an uprising. This uprising led directly to the event known as the Red River War. After the conflict ended, the encampment had enough resources and staffing to be re-purposed as a permanent fort, which it was on July 15, 1875. It took its name from General Jesse Reno, whom had been killed during the battle of South Mountain, MD., also known as the Battle of Boonesboro Gap, during the War Between the States.

Commanding Officer's Quaters

The fort is located 3 miles west and 2 miles north of present-day El Reno, Oklahoma. The fort’s staff was originally tasked with keeping the tribes in line with the current policy of peace keeping. After a large number of the Northern Cheyenne died, a group that chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf led, fled the reservation and began a precarious trek back to their homeland. This is when two troops of cavalry were tasked with hunting them down and bringing them back to their reservation. There were several contests between the soldiers and Indians, which were the subject of Mari Sandoz’s classic book, Cheyenne Autumn.

Darlington Indian Agency Established 1869

In 1885, President Grover Cleveland ordered reinforcements, along with Generals Sheridan and Miles, in addition to Cheyenne leader Stone Calf to the fort. They found that the disarmament policy was not being enforced as aggressively as had been requested. General Sheridan sent the recommendation to President Cleveland that all leases be terminated, unauthorized persons be removed, and all civilian positions in the Indian Territory be replaced by military personnel.

During the early years of the fort, General Sheridan spent an extended amount of time in a log cabin now referred to as “Sheridan’s Headquarters” or “Sheridan’s Billet”.

During the 1880s, the 9 th Cavalry Buffalo soldiers and Indian Scouts from Fort Reno were tasked with locating and arresting the illegal Boomers in the area before the land runs. During this time, the troops from the fort were tasked with keeping peace along the 89th Meridian, also known as the “Indian Meridian”. This meridian was the division between the tribal lands and the unassigned lands.

 

Officer's Quarters, 1876 & 1936

 

Alongside the troops, there was a group of Indian Scouts. They were made up of the Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribesmen who were living in the area. The scouts would use their own horses, but they were allowed to draw from the commissary to feed their families, and were given a base pay. The enlistments of the scouts would last only three-six months. According to the records, the scouts would spend their free time making goods to be sold to settlers and troops. They also made sketches and drawings in ledgers, several of which are in museums and historical societies across the nation. These drawings would focus mostly on the uniforms, weapons, and horses used by the troops.

 

Guard House, 1887

 
 

Red Brick building on right, Commissary 1885 & 1886
Natural stone building on left, Magazine 1885

 
Troops of the Fifth Cavalry also monitored the opening and signaled the start of the historic Land Run of 1889, opening the Unassigned Lands for settlement, allowing for the creation of notable towns such as Oklahoma City, Edmond, Waterloo, Yukon, El Reno, and Moore. They, alongside the 3 rd Cavalry, also monitored the opening of the other land runs, which opened the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in 1892 and the Cherokee Outlet in ’93. Prior to the land run in ’92, the “Indian Scouts” were each allocated lands across the reservation, mostly along streams and other waterways. The lands that had not been assigned to those families had been labeled excess and opened up for the land run.

 

Officer's Quarters 1891

  

Fort Reno Cemetery

In 1892, troops from the fort were dispatched to the Choctaw capital of Tuskahoma, in an effort to quell a political dispute between the Five Civilized Tribes. In 1898, virtually all of the fort’s cavalry, and infantry were force-marched away to serve in the Spanish-American war. After the war, the fort was lightly re-garrisoned with the 1st , 6th and 8th Cavalry until 1902. In 1908, the fort was closed as an active military garrison. However, if you think that the history of the fort ends with its role as an active garrison, you would be wrong. Come back next month, and we will finish weaving the tale of one of the most influential forts in the history of the grand state of Oklahoma.





 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.

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Edmond, OK History: The Schoolhouse Pt 3 Wedding of the Century

The Wedding of the Century

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez

I’m so glad you’re back for the conclusion of my blog on the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond, because this blog covers something that is truly and dearly close to my heart. It’s been a few months since my last post about the schoolhouse, so let me recap.

The land run of Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma happened on Friday, April 22, 1889. Edmond was a small town settled that day. The ladies of Edmond formed the Aid Society and did enough fundraisers that they were able to build the first free school in the territory. It was open for the first church service on August 11, 1889, just shy of four months after the land run, and it was the site for the first funeral recorded in the county. It was also the site for the first recorded wedding in the county on August 11, 1889, probably after the Sunday service. Over the ten years it served as a schoolhouse, church and meeting place, many weddings took place there. The last one was held on Saturday, April 17, 1897. Over 117 years later, in 2014, the schoolhouse saw another first. Another wedding! And I was the bride!

The first wedding in over 117 years!

My husband, Judge—yes, that’s his first name—and I met in an Old West reenactment group back in 2000. We both treasure history and family heritage. I had started volunteering at the Territorial Schoolhouse once they opened it up for public tours a year after the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007. The Preservation Trust allowed us to have the wedding at the schoolhouse. We found out that it really isn’t set up for weddings, so there won’t be any more in the foreseeable future. Because we love history, we wanted our wedding to be like it would have been back in 1889. Our wedding attire was period specific. We also did little decorating in order to keep everything in the schoolhouse like it was. Since Edmond is located in tall prairie grasslands, I wanted my bouquet to look like I, or someone else, had gone out in the prairie and picked wildflowers. Due to the fact we both have Scottish heritage, we also wanted to have a Celtic influence in our wedding.

My bouquet that held my great-great grandmother's crocheted doily

Unmarried women would wear their tartans on the left shoulder where married women would wear theirs on the right. Now typically, a Scotsman would marry into the bride’s clan and take her tartan, but sometimes the Scotswoman would marry into the groom’s clan, too. It’s called Changing of the Tartans. Since my husband is a veteran, he wore the Armed Forces tartan, the Blackwatch. I wanted to honor his service so I changed my tartan. But don’t worry, I still have my old tartans and wear them too.
 

Walking down the isle on my daddy's arm, my maiden tartan on my left shoulder

A daddy handing off his daughter

Changing the tartans, putting on my new tartan. On the right shoulder

Another Celtic wedding tradition we did was the Loving Cup and Sharing of Bread. The Loving Cup is an important part of a Celtic marriage. It symbolizes unending love. It’s actually a source of our modern tradition of the Wedding Toast. Directed by the minister, the couple drinks three “toasts” as a salute to Past Love (past loves), Current Love (the love you feel for each other today) and Future Love (love that will grow as you are together through the years). It is much older than Communion. The “sharing of the bread” was purely a symbolic gesture alluding to the willingness to put the other’s needs before your own and to provide for their sustenance and well being. Both are older than taking Communion, although we did choose to do a first Communion as a married couple and offered it to anyone who wanted to join us.
 

The Loving Cup

Sharing of Bread

A common Celtic wedding tradition, which we also did, was hand-fasting. This is where the term “tying the knot” originated. Hand-fasting was recognized as a binding contract of marriage between two families, or clans, even before weddings became a function of State or a responsibility of the Church. Along with taking vows and exchanging rings, the couple’s hands were bound together by a cord, generally a strip of tartan, signifying the joining of their lives in a sacred union. Today, it is a symbol to honor the couple’s commitment to one another, to acknowledge that their lives and their destinies are now bound together. My sister did a hand-fasting during her wedding ceremony, and she braided together three cords, one cord her favorite color, one cord her husband’s, and a white cord representing Christ binding them together.

Hand-fasting

The Knot has been tied!

Rings exchanged

My sister's hand-fasting cord

We all know how important wedding vows are. It’s a life covenant, not only between man and woman, but between the couple and God. We chose to say Old Irish wedding vows. They express what we really craved, not only between each other, but between us and God.

Repeating our vows

So on this day, two years ago, we bound our hearts, our futures, our lives and our families to the other. Here is a copy of the vows we took:

“I , Judge, promise you, Alanna, that I will stand beside you in sunshine and storm, in darkness and light, through good times and bad. Will you accept me as your husband?

I will. I, Alanna, promise you, Judge, that I will stand beside you in sunshine and storm, in darkness and light, through good times and bad. Will you accept me as your wife?

I will.”

Together, we said:

“I have joined my life to yours

To stand by your side and sleep in your arms

To be a joy to your heart and food to your soul

To work as partners and live as a family

While we grow old.”

Happy Anniversary, my husband, my muirnait (beloved), my anmchara (soul friend). I love you.

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.

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The Cherokee Strip Land Run & Book Giveaway!

I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and I’ve always been interested in the land runs--one aspect of our state’s unique history. In case you’re not familiar with Oklahoma, much of the state was designated as Indian Territory in the later half of the nineteenth century. Over forty Indian tribes were eventually moved there because white settlers in other states and territories wanted their valuable land.

Once much of the West had been settled, people started looking at Oklahoma as one of their last chances to get free land. They pressured the government to open the Unassigned Lands--land that had been promised to certain tribes, but no Indians had settled on it. The government finally agreed, and President Benjamin Harrison signed the paperwork for what was later called Harrison’s Hoss Race.

And they're off!

On April 22, 1889, over two million acres of land was opened for settlement in Oklahoma’s first land run. The homesteads were 160 acres with much smaller town lots also available. Anybody twenty-one and older could ride—women, foreigners, and blacks included. The race began with the blast of cannon and gunfire and a cheer so loud it made ears ache. An instant stampeded ensued. In less than a few hours, all of the homesteads had been claimed, leaving many people disillusioned and unhappy because they didn’t get one. In the first book in my series, Gabriel’s Atonement, my hero and heroine ride in the 1889 land run, which led to the settlement of Guthrie, Oklahoma City, and several other towns. 

Hopeful settlers waiting in line to register for the land run

Joline’s Redemption, which released on November 1st, is the second book in my Land Rush Dreams series. It features the Cherokee Outlet aka Cherokee Strip land run, which was held on September 16, 1893. More than 100,000 hopeful settlers raced for 42,000 claims. I’m sure you can imagine the chaos of such an event. Lucky winners settled in sod homes and dugouts carved from the prairie while others lived in their covered wagons. The first winters were harsh as the land tested the endurance and character of its new inhabitants. Many of the settlers could not endure the harsh conditions, and after weeks or months, gave up their dream. But for those who stayed, hard times gave way to better days as crops flourished and communities, schools and churches rose from the wind-swept plains.

In celebration of autumn and my new release, I'm giving away a copy of Hometown Harvest Cook Book. Just leave a comment with your email address to be entered.

Joline's Redemption is finally available!

Joline has fallen as far as any woman can. She once had lofty dreams of love and luxury, but she made a series of dreadful decisions, leaving her bereft of all hope. Jo has a long list of secrets to keep and has to continually look over her shoulder, as the man she’s running from may show up anywhere, anytime.

Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning fictional romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie is an award-winning author of 38 published books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and End of the Trail, which was the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel winner. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. Song of the Prairie won the 2015 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her latest series, Land Rush Dreams, focuses on the Oklahoma land runs.

Lucille Mulhall, Wolf Roper & Oklahoma Cowgirl

You’ve heard of Annie Oakley, but have you ever heard of Lucille Mulhall, who at one time was just as famous?

The first rodeo in Oklahoma Territory was held in the mid-1880s, and ironically, Lucille Mulhall was born on her family’s ranch near what would soon be Guthrie, Oklahoma on October 21, 1885. It is said that she could ride before she could walk. The cowboys who rode the plains of the Indian Territories tutored her in the art of lassoing. Her skill at riding, roping, and training horses was evident, and at a young age, she started competing in roping contests.

When Lucille was just ten years old, the mayor of Guthrie invited her to ply her skills and entertain at a cowboy gathering and contest. At age thirteen, she had her first major debut at the St. Louis Fair in 1897, and in a few years, she was performing on the vaudeville stage, entertaining crowds of up to 5,000.

Zach Mulhall, Lucille’s father, organized the Mulhall’s Congress of Rough Riders and Ropers. Lucille was the star of the show, where she met and became friends with Will Rogers and also Teddy Roosevelt, who was then a candidate for the vice-presidency. 

Zach was a proud father and one of Lucille’s greatest fans. He claimed that when his daughter was thirteen, he told her she could keep as many of his steers as she could rope in one day. “Lucille,” he bragged, “didn't quit until she’d lassoed more than 300 cattle!"

In 1900, when her father was roping in El Paso, he bet local cowboys that his daughter could out rope them—and she did. Zach won over $10,000, but Lucille faced a horrible ordeal. The cowboys didn’t believe she was a girl and attacked her, tearing at her clothing to prove she was not a woman. Her brother Charley rescued her just in time.

Later in 1900, Lucille performed at a Cowboy Tournament at a Rough Riders reunion. Teddy Roosevelt was again amazed at her skill. He joined the family for supper, where the topic of conversation centered on the wolves plaguing the area. Lucille offered to get one for Teddy. He agreed, but only if Lucille would rope one. Undaunted by the challenge, she spent the next ten days tracking a wolf pack. One morning, she caught up with them, and as she rode toward them, the pack scattered—all except for a steer-sized wolf she called “loafer”, which ran straight toward her. She roped him, but he gnawed through the rope. She tossed another rope on loafer and tied him to a tree, then cut his throat. She took the wolf to a taxidermist and had it stuffed, then she sent it to Teddy Roosevelt. As a thank you, the Mulhalls and the 101 Wild West Show performed at the McKinley-Roosevelt inaugural parade.

Lucille and her wolf kill made the news across the country, and she was dubbed the Cowpuncher Queen of Oklahoma Territory. Newspaper reported that Lucille was the greatest attraction at the Rough Riders reunion. An article in the Wichita Daily Eagle described her as a little girl who “weighs only ninety pounds can break a bronco, lasso and brand a steer, and shoot a coyote at 500 yards. She can also play Chopin, quote Browning, construe “Virgil” and make mayonnaise dressing.”

1901, Lucille roped five horse simultaneously at a horse show in Iowa. Later, she roped eight at once. The next year, she won a “thousand dollar day championship medal” at the Texas State Fair and Champion Steer Cattlemen’s Convention in Fort Worth. In 1903, Lucille was dubbed “the only lady roper in the world” and won $10,000 when she set a new world record for steer roping.

Lucille married and had a son, but because she left home and returned to performing, her husband, Martin Van Bergen, raised the boy. Van Bergen later divorced Lucille after deciding she would never settle down to domestic life as most women. A second marriage also failed.

Some sources say that Lucille made millions of dollars by performing in silent movies. At one time, she was the most famous horse woman in the world, but she ended up where she began, back on her family’s ranch. She died tragically in a car crash on December 22, 1940.

Lucille performed before European royalty, U.S. presidents, and won the respect of cowboys worldwide for her skill. She became the only female rodeo producer of her time with her show Lucille Mulhall’s Roundup and is well known for opening up the world of rodeo for women. Lucille's popularity was due to her skill, the result of perfect timing with her rope, unusual balance on her horse, and her diminutive size and ladylike demeanor. Most important, she was authentic, coming from a genuine ranch background. She was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1975 and National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1977.

So, tell me. Have you heard of Lucille Mulhall before?

Credits: The Chronicles of Oklahoma, Rodeo in Oklahoma is Women’s Business by Tracey Hanshew.

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/M/MU006.html

In 2008, I started writing a book called Gabriel’s Atonement, which has stayed on my heart ever since. It was one-third finished when I had to set it aside because I got a contract for another book. I was thrilled, when after several rejections, Gabriel’s Atonement was finally picked up by Barbour Publishing. The book released on January 1, and I’m thrilled to tell you that Gabriel’s Atonement, book 1 in the Land Rush Dreams series received 4 ½ stars from Romantic Times magazine.

Popular historical author Laurie Kingery writes: “This is possibly the best western I've read all year. (2014)”

What it’s about:

Gambler Gabe Coulter is content with his comfortable life—but when a man with a gun confronts him in a dark alley, everything changes. Guilt riddles him for killing Tom Talbot, even though it was self-defense. The dying man said the money he lost to Gabe was meant for his wife and son. The only way Gabe knows to rid himself of the guilt over killing Talbot is to return the money he won to the man’s wife. 

Lara Talbot doesn’t believe Tom had money. She sees Gabe as a charming con artist like her irresponsible husband and wants nothing to do with him. She struggles to feed her family, keep her rebellious sister in line, and care for her young son and sick grandpa. The land rush in the Oklahoma Territory seems the only way for them to get a home, so Lara rides, but her dreams don’t turn out as planned. Could God have a bigger dream for her than she could imagine?

Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams in her fictional stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie is the award-winning author of thirty-five books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and End of the Trail, which won the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. She recently tried something different and wrote Rancher Under Fire, a contemporary suspense for Love Inspired. 

Vickie has been married thirty-nine years to Robert. They have four grown sons, one of whom is married, and a precocious eight-year-old granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, antiquing, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com

Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the First Oklahoma Land Run

By Vickie McDonough

April 22nd is the 125th anniversary of the first Oklahoma land run. It's an exciting piece of the history of my state and the theme of a book I'm currently writing called Gabriel's Atonement.

Rome, as we all know, wasn’t built in a day, but the city of Guthrie, Oklahoma, was. Or, to be more accurate, it was “built” in a few hours. On Monday morning, April 22nd, 1889, Guthrie was an unpopulated stretch of prairie land where coyote, wolf, and deer roamed freely, but before sundown, it was a town of at least ten thousand. The same was true for Oklahoma City. In the few hours after the cavalry bugles were blown indicating the start of the land run, streets had been laid out, town lots staked off, and steps taken toward the formation of a municipal government. That evening, the campfires of ten thousand people flickered on the grassy slopes of the Cimarron Valley.

Map of Oklahoma Territory with the Unassigned Lands in the center

That day, nearly two million acres of land opened up to white settlement the in Unassigned Lands of the Oklahoma Territory. Initially considered unsuitable for white colonization, Oklahoma Territory was thought to be an ideal place to relocate Native Americans who were removed from their traditional lands to make way for white settlement in other states. The relocations began in 1817, and by the 1880s, what is now the state of Oklahoma was home to nearly 40 tribes, including the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and, Apache.

By 1889, much of the free land in America had been snatched up. Americans began pressuring the U.S. government to allow white settlement in the Oklahoma Territory. On March 3, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison announced the government would open the 1.9 million-acre tract of the Unassigned Lands for settlement, precisely at noon on April 22nd. With only seven weeks to prepare, land-hungry Americans quickly began to gather around the borders of the irregular rectangle of land. By the appointed day, more than 50,000 hopefuls, sometimes referred to as Boomers, were living in tent cities on all four sides of the territory.

At 11:50 a.m. on April 22^nd, 1889, soldiers signaled the Boomers to form a line. When the hands of the clock reached noon, cannons boomed and bugles rang out, and the race began. With the crack of hundreds of whips and yells of a myriad voices, thousands of Boomers streamed into the territory in wagons, on horseback, penny-farthing bicycle, and on foot. By nightfall, thousands of settlers had claimed town lots or the one of the many160-acre quarter sections of land. Towns like Norman, Oklahoma City, Kingfisher, and Guthrie sprang into being almost overnight. By the time Guthrie was only one month old, it had a hotel, general stores, three newspapers—and fifty saloons.

Guthrie, OK - just five days old

The pioneer spirit battled the American lust for land. The first Oklahoma land rush was plagued by greed and fraud. Many of the U.S. Marshal deputies sent in early to stake out the towns, illegally staked their own claims before the race began. Other settlers, called “Sooners," entered the territory before the legal date and time and snatched up prime land.

All total, there were five land runs for former Indian lands in Oklahoma. The government attempted to operate subsequent runs with more controls, eventually adopting a lottery system to designate claims. By 1905, white Americans owned most of the land in Indian Territory. Two years later, on November 16, 1907, the area once known as Oklahoma Territory, joined with the Indian Territory and entered the Union as the new state of Oklahoma.

Never before in the history of the West has so large a number of people been concentrated in one place in so short a time.

I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and the topic of the land runs has always fascinated me. I love the scene from the movie Far and Away, where Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise ride in the land run, so it’s probably no surprise that the first book I had published was partially centered around the 1889 land rush. Sooner or Later is still available in eBook format, but next year, you'll be able to my series Land Rush Dreams, starting with Gabriel's Atonement, which releases in January, 2015.

Now that you know what Boomers and Sooners are, the next time you hear the University of Oklahoma football chant "Boomers, Sooners!" you'll understand the meaning behind it. :)

Surprise! I'll give one lucky commenter a copy of South Carolina Brides. Visit my website(address below) and sign up for my newsletter for an additional entry.

Coming July 1st: Song of the Prairie

Janie Dunn’s dream of being an opera singer suddenly fades when, at her dying cousin’s request, she flees Boston with her cousin’s newborn son to protect him from his abusive father. She moves to Kansas to live with her brother, but life takes another dire change when he is suddenly killed. Is a marriage of convenience the answer to her problems? Is Kansas far enough away from Boston that they are safe from the baby’s vengeful father?

Vickie McDonough is the best-selling author of more than 30 books and novellas. Her novels include the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series and the Pioneer Promises series and 2 books in the Texas Trails series. Her novel, Long Trail Home, won the Inspirational category of the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards and End of the Trail won the Oklahoma Writer's Inc Best Fiction Novel book in 2013. This fall, Vickie has three charming Christmas novellas releasing. To learn more about Vickie, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com