5 things to know about Fort Reno

With Congress likely to resume efforts to pass a new five-year Farm Bill sometime this year, leaders of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma are again pushing for a change in the bill's language. Under the current Farm Bill, there is a prohibition on the transfer of land that had once been part of the Tribe's reservation but was taken by the federal government for military use—Fort Reno—in 1883. Once the military no longer needed it (following the end of WWII), instead of the 9,500 acres being returned to the Tribe, the government transferred it to the US Department of Agriculture, under whose authority it still operates today. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes' leadership says it has always maintained that the land is rightfully theirs and should be returned. The disputed land sits in the 3rd congressional district, which is represented by Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas. Rep. Lucas has worked on every Farm Bill dating back to 1996 and is, in large part, responsible for the language preventing the land from being transferred back to the Tribe. Lucas believes its current use -- for agricultural research -- is the "highest and best use for the property."

Here are 5 things to know about Fort Reno (courtesy: Fort Reno Visitor Center & Museum):

BEGINNINGS.

Fort Reno began as a military camp in 1874 during the Indian Wars Era. It was established at the insistence of Agent John Miles at the Darlington Indian Agency to pacify and protect the Cheyennes and Arapahos there.

In 1875, the commanding officer was authorized to select a site, on the other (south) side of the North Canadian River, and build corrals and a wagon yard, dig wells, and set up a sawmill for the military post. The permanent location was named “Fort Reno” in February 1876 by General Phil Sheridan, in honor of his dear friend Major General Jesse L. Reno, a Virginian, who was killed in the Civil War in 1863 at the Battle of South Mountain in Maryland.

1883 EXECUTIVE ORDER.

The success of the military camp at this location led to the establishment of a 9,493-acre permanent military reservation on land that had been part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes' reservation. By executive order, then-President Chester Arthur, in 1883, approved the following request from his Secretary of War:

I have the honor to request that the following-described tract of land in the Indian Territory, located within the limits of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation, created by Executive order dated August 10, 1869, be duly declared and set apart by the Executive as a military reservation for the post of Fort Reno...A sketch showing the proposed reservation is enclosed herewith, and the Interior Department reports that there is no objection on the part of the Indian Office to the setting apart for military purposes exclusively of the tract of land herein described. I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, etc..

LAND RUN TO STATEHOOD.

The soldiers at Fort Reno were often dispatched into the Unassigned Lands, where Oklahoma City is now located, to remove the Boomers from their settlements.

The cavalry and infantry stationed at Fort Reno played an important role in the transition of the area from Indian Territory status to Oklahoma statehood in 1907. United States Cavalry units, including the Buffalo Soldiers (Black soldiers of the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry, and the 24th and 25th Infantry), and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Scouts, along with the U.S. Marshal Service, maintained the peace on the central plains until the turn of the century.

PACK MULES, POLO, AND POWS.

In 1908, Fort Reno became one of three Army Quartermaster Remount Stations for the military, a role which it served through 1948. Specialized horse breeding and training of pack mules became the central focus of activity at Fort Reno. The horses and mules were transported by rail from Fort Reno and shipped to other parts of the world during World War I and World War II. The military also made some horses available to the local farmers for breeding purposes. Social activities at Fort Reno included polo matches, horse races, horse shows and auctions, and local community activities at the Officers’ Club, polo grounds, and racetrack, which no longer exist.

During World War II, 94 acres of an eastern portion of the Fort Reno lands served as an internment work-camp for German and Italian Prisoners of War. Mostly from General Rommel’s Afrikakorp, captured in North Africa, over 1,300 Germans and a few Italians were brought to Fort Reno by rail. While imprisoned here, the German and Italian POWs were hired as laborers for local farmers, and in 1944, they built the Post Chapel located to the north of the Parade Grounds.

FUN FACTS:

1. Famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart flew her autogiro (forerunner of the helicopter) at the Fort Reno airstrip in 1931.
2. Will Rogers visited the Fort frequently to watch polo matches and horse races.
3. Black Jack, the spirited riderless ceremonial horse used in the funeral processions of Presidents Hoover, Kennedy, and Johnson, and General MacArthur, was raised and trained at Fort Reno before being sent to Fort Myer, VA, joining the caisson unit, assisting in burying more than 1,000 Korean and Vietnam soldiers killed in combat.
4. Famous artist Frederic Remington spent three months at Fort Reno in 1888, producing many of his drawings of Cavalry, Buffalo Soldiers, Cheyennes & Arapahos, and Scouts.