Fort Supply (originally Camp Supply) was a United States Army post established on November 18, 1868, in

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

to protect the Southern Plains. It was located just east of present-day Fort Supply, Oklahoma, in what was then the

Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a parcel of land south of the Oklahoma–Kansas border between 96th meridian west, 96 and 100th meridian west, 100°W. The Che ...

History

Fort Supply was originally established as "Camp of Supply" on November 18, 1868 in support of General

Philip Sheridan Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with General-i ...

's winter campaign against the Southern

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

. It was from Camp Supply that

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

led the Seventh United States Cavalry south to the banks of the

Washita River The Washita River () is a river in the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River of the South, Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border. Geogra ...

to destroy the village of the Cheyenne Indian chief

Black Kettle Black Kettle (Cheyenne: Mo'ohtavetoo'o) (November 27, 1868) was a leader of the Southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. Born to the ''Northern Só'taeo'o / Só'taétaneo'o'' band of the Northern Cheyenne in the Black Hills of presen ...

in what became known as the Battle of the Washita. Later, the camp served to protect the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

reservations, under the Darlington Agency, from incursions by whites. Camp Supply was renamed Fort Supply in 1878 following its role in the

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flatland in Nort ...

of 1874-1875. By 1880 the Indian Wars on the Southern Plains were nearly over and the fort was in bad repair. Army officers in the Department of Missouri recommended its abandonment.

, by then General of the Army, objected and worked to establish the Fort Supply Military Reservation giving permanence to the fort and an accompanying reserve of 36 square miles.Kappler, ''Indian Affairs'', ''"Indian Territory-Fort Supply Military Reservation"'': "A military reservation may be duly declared and set apart by the Executive for the post of Fort Supply, Indian Territory, and with the assent of the Interior Department, that it embrace the following described tract of land, viz: Township 24 north, range 22 west, in the Indian Territory. Area, 36 square miles, or 23,040 acres." Fort Supply was officially closed September 1894 following the opening of the Cherokee Outlet to settlement. One of the last missions troops from Fort Supply performed was bringing to end the violence of the Enid-Pond Creek Railroad War during the summer of 1894. Troops from Fort Reno and U.S. Marshal E.D. 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. On February 26, 1895, the last remaining troops turned over operation of the old fort to the Department of the Interior. In 1908 Oklahoma's first insane asylum was established at the old post and which is now called the Western State Psychiatric Center. In 1988, the state legislature designated the remaining buildings at the old fort as the Fort Supply Historic District. Shortly afterwards the William S. Key Correctional Center was opened at the site. The Fort Supply Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 (#71000675).

Fort Supply Historic Site

The

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

operates a visitor center and is restoring five of the original structures. The visitor center features exhibits about the history of Fort Supply and northwest Oklahoma. The buildings that are being preserved and restored to their original appearance are the 1874 Ordnance Sergeant's Quarters and 1882 Civilian Employee Quarters, which are picket-style log buildings, the frame-style 1878 Commanding Officer's Quarters and duplex 1882 Officers' Quarters, and the brick 1892 Guard House. The Guard House features exhibits of artifacts and photographs. The site also features replicas of the 1869

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

, an army supply wagon, a mountain howitzer, and a

tipi A tipi or tepee ( ) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on ...

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Carriker, Robert C. ''Fort Supply, Indian Territory: Frontier Outpost on the Plains''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. * Kappler, Charles (Editor)
"Appendix II; ''Miscellaneous letters and documents pertaining to Executive orders establishing Indian reserves''; Indian Territory—Fort Supply Military Reserve
. ''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. 1:1047 (accessed October 9, 2006).

External links

* * *
Fort Supply on TravelOK.com
- Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
Santa Fe Trail Research Site
*
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{NRHP in Woodward County, Oklahoma Military and war museums in Oklahoma Museums in Woodward County, Oklahoma Indian Territory Oklahoma Historical Society

Supply Supply or supplies may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as ...

1868 establishments in Indian Territory Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Woodward County, Oklahoma