A very interesting historical site just west of Oklahoma City. The history of Fort Reno runs from Indian Territory to World War II; from Buffalo Soldiers and Cavalry; to horses and mules; to prisoners of war. A dozen or so buildings and hundreds of artifacts and photographs tell a great story of this small but important military site.
excepts from www.fortreno.org/about
Fort Reno began as a military camp in 1874 in 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.
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.
The success of the military camp at this location in 1874 led to the establishment of a 9,493 acre permanent military reservation. Fort Reno as a military post was home base for Cavalry and Infantry units of the United States Army from 1875 to 1907. The Territorial status and diversified peoples and factions in the surrounding lands created a bustling community at Fort Reno made up of enlisted men, officers, and civilians.
The soldiers at Fort Reno were often dispatched into the Unassigned Lands where Oklahoma City is now located to remove David Payne and the Boomers from their settlements. Fort Reno soldiers also helped to keep order along the 89th Meridian, a marker of which is located in El Reno at the Canadian County Historical Museum, prior to the land run of April 22, 1889.
The first land run in Oklahoma opened the Unassigned Lands for settlement. The Fort Reno soldiers were assigned to keep order along the outer boundaries prior to the appropriate signal of cannons and carbines on Saturday, April 22, 1889. The greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area – Guthrie from the north to Norman from the South to Shawnee from the east and El Reno from the west, were all established following the land run of 1889.
The second Land Run involving Fort Reno soldiers was the opening of part of the Cheyenne & Arapaho reservation on April 19, 1892. Prior to the land run, each member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribe received an individual allotment of land, mainly along the rivers and streams. The lands considered excess were opened for settlement.
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.
Fort Reno’s purpose as a remount station was to raise horses and mules for all branches of the military. Reports indicate that Fort Reno was the regional headquarters, having approximately 14,000 horses and mules at various times throughout the Remount Station years. The principal Remount units were the 252nd and the 253rd Quartermaster Remount Squadrons, plus a unit of “Fort Reno Remount Cowboys”, real cowboys, who broke and trained the horses and mules.
The Fort Reno Remount Troops often accompanied the pack mules and horses to other parts of the world. The horses and mules were shipped to the South Pacific, Italy, Greece, China, Burma and India for use, primarily in mountainous areas, by the Allied forces. These animals were a very important element of our nation’s war effort, used for crucial supply lines and transportation, in terrain where, as one Veteran said, “There wasn’t a square foot of level ground!”
Shortly after World War II, in 1948, the United States Army’s Quartermaster Remount Depot at Fort Reno was decommissioned, although animals were shipped out of Fort Reno until 1952. The Fort has since been the site of the 6,740 acre U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grazinglands Research Laboratory, which hosts the Visitors Center Museum, operated by the non-profit Historic Fort Reno, Inc.
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 German 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.
The west side of the historic military cemetery is where seventy German and Italian Prisoners of War are interred. Most of these men died at other POW camps in Oklahoma and Texas. Only one Fort Reno German POW died while imprisoned at the Fort Reno internment camp.
There are 62 German and 8 Italian Prisoners of War interred at the POW Cemetery added to the west end of the Post Cemetery. A number of Germans and Italians have made special trips to view the resting place of their relatives or friends. Every November, for the German-American Heritage Memorial Day “Volkstrauertag”, a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of those prisoners buried at the Fort Reno cemetery.