Fort Arbuckle (Oklahoma)
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Fort Arbuckle Site
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| Location | Garvin County, about 0.5 mi. N of Hoover on SR, Hoover, Oklahoma |
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| Nearest city | Davis, Oklahoma |
| Coordinates | 34°31′39″N 97°15′0″W / 34.52750°N 97.25000°WCoordinates: 34°31′39″N 97°15′0″W / 34.52750°N 97.25000°W |
| Built | 1852 |
| Architect | U.S. Army |
| NRHP Reference # | |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1972 |
Fort Arbuckle was created in 1850 to stop raids by Plains Indian tribes on immigrant trains headed west to California and on settlements of Choctaws and Chickasaws in Indian Territory.
Captain Randolph B. Marcy was assigned the mission of selecting the site and constructing the fort, which would be named to honor the recently deceased General Matthew Arbuckle. The site was inside the boundary of the Chickasaw Nation and on the bank of the Washita River, 6 miles (9.7 km) west and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the present town of Davis, Oklahoma. The overall size of the post was originally 12 miles (19 km) by 12 miles (19 km), allowing enough room for friendly tribes to camp under the protection of the post.
Marcy and his men constructed a rectangular fort, with barracks on opposite sides and the quartermaster and commissary facilities at opposite ends. Eventually the fort consisted of thirty buildings constructed of hewn logs and stone chimneys.
Major William H. Emory of the First Cavalry was appointed commander of both Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle in 1858. He found the facilities at the fort inadequate. Many of the buildings were in a poor state of repair; ordnance stores were depleted; and surplus ammunition and gunpowder had to be buried in order to be weather protected. But even before the troops could remedy these faults, they received orders to build another fort, this one named Fort Cobb.
On May 3, 1861, after the Civil War broke out, Major Emory ordered the three forts under his command to be evacuated, with the troops going to Fort Leavenworth. The government of the Chickasaw Nation had already decided to support the Confederacy. Although it was briefly occupied by Confederate troops, no battle occurred in the vicinity, Fort Arbuckle played no part in the war. After the war, the post was regarrisoned by troops from the Sixth Infantry and Tenth Cavalry.
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Wikipedia