Misplaced Pages

#224775

32-473: The Darlington Agency was an Indian agency on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation prior to statehood in present-day Canadian County , Oklahoma . The agency was established in 1870. The agency established at Fort Supply the previous year was moved to a more accessible location for the tribes. Brinton Darlington , a Quaker for whom the agency was named, was the first United States Indian agent at

64-785: A band under the leadership of Dull Knife and Little Wolf escaped and fled north, in what became known as the Northern Cheyenne Exodus . Some were rounded up and returned to the Darlington Agency. Most of the Northern Cheyenne remained on the reservation in Indian Territory. By 1883 all who wanted to were permitted to return to the north, where the Tongue River Indian Reservation was established in 1884. In

96-510: A sawmill for the military post. In February 1876, General Phil Sheridan named the new facility Fort Reno . In December 1876, the chief clerk of the Office of Indian Affairs. S. A. Galpin, inspected the Darlington Agency. His report was largely favorable to the post. He seemed especially impressed by the Indian school established there, writing that it was "... the largest, and in many respects

128-593: A third of the fair market price. They were not leases, as a legal lease of reservation land was forbidden by law. John DeBras Miles , the Indian agent, called a council of chiefs and cattlemen on December 12, 1882 to consider grazing permits, and believed he had obtained the consent of the vast majority of the representatives of the tribes. There was still strong opposition, particularly among the Cheyenne camped at Cantonment. They killed some cattle for food and also as cultural resistance. The soldier societies began requiring

160-613: Is an agency of the state of Oklahoma responsible for managing and protecting Oklahoma's wildlife population and their habitats. The Department is under the control of the Wildlife Conservation Commission , an 8-member board appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate . All members serve eight-year terms. The Commission, in turn, appoints a Director to serve as

192-721: The Red River War , nearly all of the Southern Cheyenne and the Southern Arapaho began to live on the reservation. Despite the best efforts of the Indian Agent, John DeBras Miles , the promised government rations were inadequate. The tribes also suffered from infectious diseases. Congress appropriated inadequate funds for support of the reservations, and poor quality cattle were sold to the government. Texas cattlemen illegally grazed thousands of cattle on

224-665: The chief administrative officer of the Department. The current Director of the Department of Wildlife Conservation is Wade Free. The Department was created in 1956 during the term of Governor Raymond D. Gary by an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution . The Department in its current state was created in 1956 when the voters of Oklahoma approved State Question 374, which amended the Oklahoma Constitution by adding Article 26. The State Question

256-724: The Arapaho. The two tribes are referred to in Oklahoma as the Southern Cheyenne and the Southern Arapaho, a reference intended to distinguish them from their respective northern divisions on reservations in Montana ( Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ) and Wyoming (Wind River), respectively. The southern bands were forced to move to the Indian Territory as a result of the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867, which

288-624: The Cheyenne Agency.” They were reassigned to the Wichita Agency , 30 miles (48 km) south of Darlington, because of Indian unrest in that area. Troops of the 5th Infantry and 6th Cavalry from Forts Dodge and Leavenworth, under Lt. Col. Thomas Neil, were assigned to Darlington. Neil was authorized to select a site on the south side of the North Canadian River , build corrals and a wagon yard, dig wells, and set up

320-451: The Cheyenne to participate in medicine ceremonies and punished Cheyenne who farmed or sent their children to school. Miles resigned on March 31, 1884. His replacement, D. B. Dyer, did not respect the Cheyenne and his relations with them were strained. His approach to disorder was to request troops, which were not provided. Escalating conflict continued between Indians and the cattlemen. In July 1885, by presidential order of Grover Cleveland ,

352-649: The Concho agency. The Darlington Agency site became the property of the State of Oklahoma after it was admitted to the Union. The Masons leased the site and operated a boarding school and retirement home there until 1922. The state briefly used the site as a drug rehabilitation center before designating it for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 's main bird hatchery and research station. The site

SECTION 10

#1732776625225

384-709: The Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article.... In 1890, the United States, operating through the agency of the Cherokee Commission , acting under the provisions of the Dawes Act , broke the treaty. It allotted a 160-acre parcel to each household for subsistence farming. The remainder

416-542: The Indian boarding schools on the reservation and at Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania. A separate facility patronized by the Cheyenne was established in Caddo Springs . But, the Cheyenne and Arapaho could find little work, even for Carlisle graduates who returned to the reservation. The Indian agent's promising attempt to build a cattle herd was ended when the Office of Indian Affairs commanded distribution of

448-944: The North Fork of the Canadian River for the tribes, closer to their territory. The lands were located in western Indian Territory south of the Cherokee Outlet and north of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Indian Reservation . However, a portion of it was split off later to form the Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Indian Reservation . The area occupied by the tribes is now referred to as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area . Following

480-575: The North Fork of the Canadian River, the Canadian River, and the Washita River. In Oklahoma, the Cheyenne live near Thomas, Clinton, and Weatherford, Custer County; Hammon (Red Moon), Roger Mills County; El Reno and Concho, Canadian County; Kingfisher, Kingfisher County, Watonga and Canton, Blaine County; Seiling, Dewey County. The Cheyenne are a Plains Tribe and are of the Algonquian language family. They have long been associated with

512-567: The agency, a position he held until his death in 1872. The agency gained a post office and an Indian school, the latter run by John Homer Seger . It became a stop on the Chisholm Trail . By 1880, the agency had its own newspaper, the Cheyenne Transporter ; it was the first in western Indian Territory. The Cheyenne left in 1897 to form their own agency at Concho . When the Arapaho reunited with them, they both occupied

544-570: The best, Indian school that I have found." At the time, John H. Seger was running the school for the second straight year, and had an enrollment of 115 students. Galpin noted that the school was in excellent condition, and that "... the furniture of which is as yet without a scratch made wantonly..." In 1877, Dull Knife and 900 other Cheyenne were escorted by US troops to Darlington to be interned. The following year, most of this group escaped en masse and fled toward their northern homeland. Troops from Fort Reno and other posts pursued and captured most of

576-582: The cattlemen were ordered off the reservation, which was placed under military control. Dyer was replaced by an army officer, Captain Jesse M. Lee. The lands granted by the Treaty of Medicine Lodge were extensive, setting aside a substantial portion of western Oklahoma for the exclusive use of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. ...The United States now solemnly agrees that no persons except those herein authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employés of

608-547: The escapees and returned them to Darlington. Troops from the fort were also used to protect the Native Americans, as they removed Boomers and ranchers who illegally trespassed or grazed cattle on reservation property. In 1889, the troops fought Sooners trying to sneak into Oklahoma before the land run officially opened. By 1880, the Darlington agency published its own newspaper, the Cheyenne Transporter ; it

640-585: The fort became used as a quartermaster depot. During World War II, Fort Reno became a prisoner-of-war camp for captured German soldiers. In 1949, the facility was transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for use as a livestock research station. It has since been renamed as the Darlington State Game Farm . Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation Recognizing this fact, on August 10, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an executive order to set aside lands instead on

672-403: The herd. They gave each Indian head of household an average of three cattle, too few to be productive. Shortages of rations continued, and the Indian agent had few resources available to develop work opportunities for his charges. During the early 1880s, the vast majority of the reservation was licensed for grazing to large cattle outfits in 8 large parcels, at the rate of 2 cents per acre, about

SECTION 20

#1732776625225

704-462: The lands of the reservation were in the possession or control of settlers, leaving the Indians as a small minority of the population of the reservation and possessing only a small portion of their original lands. At noon April 19, 1892, the lands of the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation were opened for settlement by homesteaders; the Indians retained 529,962 acres (2,144.68 km ) located mostly along

736-422: The last of the diminishing buffalo herds. Many buffalo were taken, but never enough to satisfy the tribes' needs; by 1877 there were few left. In the winter of 1877-78 the remaining stragglers of the southern herd were hunted down. In 1877 nearly a thousand Northern Cheyenne came or were escorted to the reservation from their home ranges in the north. Rations were inadequate, as was medical care. In September 1878,

768-563: The late 1870s and the early 1880s, both the Cheyenne and Arapaho attempted some subsistence farming. The Arapaho were more committed and successful. Recurrent droughts resulted in crop failures. It took several years for the US Indian agent and these farmers to develop and learn basic techniques of dryland farming to handle the difficult conditions, such as conserving winter moisture. Some men earned money by hauling supplies, making hay, and cutting wood. Gradually more children were enrolled in

800-415: The reservation, but refused to sell any to the Indian agent. Some cattle were confiscated on promise of payment. On the advice of the army, fearful of an outbreak, Miles withheld ammunition from the tribes. This made them vulnerable to white horse thieves. Cheyenne women gained some paying work by tanning hides for white traders. In 1875, 1876, and 1877 the tribes had to compete with white buffalo hunters for

832-536: The site as a drug rehabilitation center before designating it for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 's main bird hatchery and research station. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973. Fort Reno was declared a remount station in 1908. Its primary aim was to supply animals (primarily horses) to other military units. In 1938, cavalry units were already being mechanized and horses were no longer needed;

864-1104: The westernmost tribes of the Algonquian language family. Members of the Northern Arapaho who live on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming call the Oklahoma group Nawathi'neha or "Southerners." With the Organic Act of 1870, the Arapaho retained a nominal tribal government, and twelve chiefs were selected by a scout and retired Arapaho chief named Ute. The twelve chiefs were Jesse Rowlodge, David Meat, John Hoof, Dan Blackhorse, Ben Spotted Wolf, Bill Williams, Wilburn Tabor, John Sleeper, Annanita Washee, Scott Youngman, Saul Birdshead, and Theodore Haury. Two Cheyenne were elected by custom to serve as Arapaho chiefs, Ben Buffalo and Ralph Whitetail. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

896-480: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973. The Darlington Agency was established in 1870 on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation in Indian Territory. Fort Reno was established near the Darlington Agency in 1874, at the insistence of Agent John Miles, to pacify the Arapaho and Cheyenne who had already settled there. At first, Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry were dispatched from Fort Sill to establish an installation called “Camp Near

928-600: Was brought before the voters of the state through an initiative petition process. Before the Department's addition to the State's Constitution, its duties existed in some form or format with the occasional interruption since the first Game Warden was hired in 1909. The establishment of a Commission under -and by which- the Game Wardens were to be appointed was established during the State's Tenth Legislative Session via Senate Bill No. 185. The Wildlife Conservation Department, with an annual budget of over $ 40 million,

960-598: Was classified as surplus and sold to settlers. At the time, the government believed that forced assimilation to the European-American farm model would help the Indian learn to fit into United States society, as would the associated extinguishment of tribal government and communal tribal interest in land. The allotments were held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs , which leased much of that land to settlers. This process took several years, but by 1910 nearly all

992-823: Was signed by Chief Little Raven as leader of the Southern Arapaho. In Oklahoma, the Arapaho live mostly in rural areas near the towns of Canton, Greenfield and Geary in Blaine County, and at Colony in Washita County. The name Arapaho originates in the Pawnee term tirapihu (or larapihu ), meaning, "He buys or trades", probably due to their being the dominant trading group in the Great Plains region. The Arapaho call themselves Inun-ina meaning "our people" or "people of our own kind." The Arapaho are one of

Darlington Agency - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-423: Was the first in western Indian Territory. The Cheyenne left in 1897 to form their own agency at Concho . When the Arapaho reunited with them, they both occupied the Concho agency. The Darlington Agency site became the property of the State of Oklahoma after it was admitted to the Union in 1907. The Masons leased the site, and operated a boarding school and retirement home there until 1922. The state briefly used

#224775