2023-6-15 Fort Washita, Durant Ok

The Texas Ramblin' Roses met at the Magnolia Cafe in Durant for breakfast on Thursday morning. The food was great and the service was excellent. Our next stop at least for six of us was Fort Washita which wasn't too far out of Durant. We managed to take a scenic detour on the way. 

Fort Washita was built in 1842 as the southwestern-most military post of the United States. The mission was to maintain peace for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations within their new lands. They were relocated from the southeast part of the U.S. as we learned from our visit to the Choctaw Cultural Center. The Choctaw and the Chickasaw were harassed by both whites militias and other Indian tribes who resented their presence. 

The Visitor's Center occupies the site of the original chaplains quarters. We arrived just in advance of a large tour group of young students and were able to look at the exhibits and learn about some of the history before the students converged. The fort operated as a U.S. military post until the start of the Civil War in 1861 when it was occupied by Confederate forces until 1865. It was almost completely destroyed when they left. It was granted to the Chickasaw Nation until the Dawes Commission allotted it the Charles and Abbie Davis Colbert family. The Oklahoma Historical society acquired it in 1962 and restored it as a historic site and museum. They partnered with the Chickasaw Nation to assume responsibility and management of it in 2016.

Elaine, Teresa, and I headed outside to start a walking tour in advance of the kids. The South Barracks was built in 1849 and included quarters, mess halls, kitchens, and commissary storage.

The D.H. Cooper Cabin was home to the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian agent in the 1850s. He was a colonel and later brigadier general of the Regiment.

The Bohanan cabin was moved to the fort in 1990 and is similar to what officers cabins were like.

There docents dressed in period costumes for the students tour. That poor woman was definitely suffering from the heat in those clothes.

They were set up next to this cabin which would have been officers family quarters.

From the back side, we could see smoke coming out of the pipe on top of the hill. We were invited over and found that it was an oven. The woman was baking cookies for the kids tour group. She was also mixing up hard tack for them to try. Hard tack is basically flour, salt, and water.

By this time we were so hot and the area was very hilly so we were done in. The woman told us we should be able to drive down the path. There were cones blocking it due to the kids tour but she told us to go back and ask. We lucked out and they actually sent the us out in a golf cart driven by the museum guide so we ended up with a very personal guided tour.

This is the back side of the South Barracks.

This is the corral rebuilt for reenactments.

Workshop used by carpenters, mechanics, etc. for work needed by fort.

This is all that is left of the laundress quarters. Enlisted wives often took fee paying jobs as laundresses as enlisted men received no family stipends.

We found the blacksmith working the forge. It was even hotter in this building. He showed us a number of tools from the era and asked us what they were for. Between the three of us, we were to identify almost all of them.

There was a replica post office in a corner of the building.

This Bake Oven was built in 1840 and could bake 180 loaves at one time. Soldier were given a daily ration of 18 ounces of bread a day.

These photos are all of the remains of the kitchen.

No explanation  needed for the remains of the latrines.

there was a large billboard showing the various routes to California.

The Surgeons quarters were built near the new hospital. 

I didn't get a picture of the cemetery which includes a Chickasaw burial ground as well as military graves and the Colbert Family burial grounds.

All in all, it was a very interesting tour. It was extremely hot and we were only able to see most of it because we got a guided tour in a golf cart. Once back at the RV park, we headed to the pool for a refreshing dip.