Because There's Nothing Wrong with a Good Ruin

On our way back from Thompson family fun at the lake for the pre-Fourth of July weekend, Bird and I decided to take a historical marker hunt detour over to Fort Washita. The fort is about 13 miles east of Madill out state highway 199. It is both an Oklahoma Historical Society site and a National Historic Site. It was also BLAZING hot that day, but it was totally worth walking around a bit to see all the cool stuff. As long as I had my trusty shade hat on :-)

 

Now, when I think about Oklahoma, I don't generally think about ruins. And when I think about nineteenth-century forts, I don't generally think about ruins. When I think about ruins, I think about ancient sites--Pompeii, the pyramids, Athens, Chichen Itza, places like that. But here in Oklahoma, we have ruins as well. Some of them aren't as old as the ones I mentioned, but they're pretty darned cool and have archaeological significance. There aren't necessarily written records of EVERYTHING that happened at these forts, so places like Fort Washita and, particularly, Fort Gibson up in northeastern Oklahoma have done archaeological surveys to find out more about the lives of the previous inhabitants. Where exactly were their homes? What items did they use? How did they go about their everyday lives? It's stuff we take for granted, but awesome to find out so we can compare what life was like then to what it is like now.

 

On to Fort Washita. To give credit where it is due, I'm taking my information from their visitor guide. Many of the buildings are either reproductions or just the foundations that have been unearthed, but you can imagine what was there before. Especially when you pass the line of latrines on your drive in to the visitor's center.

 

Fort Washita was established in 1842 near the border of the Republic of Texas. The main purpose of the fort was to protect the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes that had been removed to Indian Territory from the Plains Indian tribes that resided in the western parts of the territory. It also served as an Indian Agency for the Chickasaws and Choctaws, most famously under Douglas Cooper, who also fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. The fort was taken by the Confederacy during the Civil War and was never used as a United States fort again. In the 1880s the land upon which the fort resides became a part of the Colbert family allotment when tribal lands were divided through the Dawes Allotment Act. The Oklahoma Historical Society came into possession of Fort Washita in 1962 and it became a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

 

There's a big open area, the parade grounds, in the middle surrounded by the barracks houses. One barracks is completely gone, leaving only its foundation. The West Barracks, built in 1856, are a ruin, made of locally quarried limestone. These barracks burned in 1917. The South Barracks, originally built in 1849, were reconstructed in 1972 and were in use by re-enactors until last year when arsonists (aka bored late teenager/early twenties) set them on fire. They are the ones with the white covering on them. 

 

You can also see where the fort school was, near the officers' quarters. All that remains of the officers' quarters is the chimney--it's kind of a haunting sight.

 

Because of it's long history, the fort has three different cemeteries--one that offered rest to federal soldiers who died before the Civil War, although those soldiers were moved to the US cemetery in Fort Gibson in the 1870s; a Confederate cemetery; and the Colbert family cemetery.

 

While we were walking around, six folks on three motorcycles were also taking a peek at the history. All we could think was how stinkin' hot it would be to be on a motorcycle that day. Ouch. We drove around a bit more and found a map of the California Gold Route. Fort Washita was a stop on the southern route to California to get in on the Gold Rush. Another prominent direction finder? Rock Mary. Dang it! Read my previous post where we DIDN'T find Rock Mary: http://thebaxter-rosecoloredglasses.blogspot.com/2010/05/hinton-and-clinton-and-cordell-oh-my.html

 

So, another successful historical marker hunt. Where will we find the next one? You never know!