El Reno Oklahoma - Home of the Oklahoma Land Rush

OKLAHOMA LEGENDS

El Reno - Home of the Land Rush

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El Reno Oklahoma

Just west of Yukon, Oklahoma lies the old Route 66 town of El Reno, Oklahoma. Built at the intersection of two historic highways – the Old Chisholm Trail and Route 66, the town’s less than 20,000 residents are enthusiastic Mother Road boosters.

Before the town of El Reno was born, a man by the name of Jesse Chisholm established the Chisholm Trail in 1866, where hundreds of herds of cattle would be driven north from Texas to Kansas where they would be loaded on trains headed to the east. On top of Concho Hill north of present day El Reno, the Caddo Springs Stage Station was established and soon became a major stopping point between Wichita, Kansas and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Chief Black Kettle In the same year the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation was established by a treaty negotiated, in part by Black Kettle, considered the greatest chief of the Southern Cheyennes. Black Kettle was later killed by General George Custer at the Battle of the Washita on November, 1868 near the present town of Cheyenne, Oklahoma. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes were moved from eastern Colorado to land south of the Arkansas River. The Darlington Indian Agency was established in August, 1869 three miles north and two miles west of present day El Reno. The settlement and the agency took its name from Brinton Darlington, the agency’s first superintendent. Soon, the Cheyenne Indian School was established two miles north of Darlington in 1871.

In 1874, Fort Reno was established to quell the unrest among the Indians in the region. First known as the "Camp Near Cheyenne Agency," the location was later named Fort Reno in 1876 in honor of Major General Jesse L. Reno, who had been killed in the Civil War. The soldiers soon built a stockade where Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan conducted his Indian campaigns from headquarters established at the fort.

Fort Reno Panographic, 1891

Oklahoma Land Run

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

Soon the United States Cavalry units calmed down the uprisings in the area but stayed on to maintain the peace.

On April 22, 1889, the unassigned lands of the area were opened up for settlement, which quickly became known as the great Oklahoma land run. When the signal was given along the outer boundaries, the Fort Reno soldiers were assigned to keep order among the many rushing pioneers flooding the area.

No sooner was the land opened for settlement when the Rock Island Railroad began to build a line from Caldwell, Kansas to the south bank of the Canadian River. Near Fort Reno, a settlement had sprung up called Reno City, which quickly decided to relocate nearer the railroad. Buildings, pioneers and businesses wasted no time uprooting and moving the entire town which they called El Reno. In January, 1890, the first train arrived in the community, which quickly became a rail center for the productive wheat harvests of Canadian County. In March of 1890, El Reno was named the county seat.

In 1892 and again in 1894, additional unassigned lands were opened up to settlers, which brought more people to the new settlement of El Reno.

On August 6, 1901 the old Irving School in El Reno was the site of the lottery drawing for the last free territory land for settlement. These lands formerly allocated to the Wichita, Caddo, Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes were the final lands opened to white settlers.

When Route 66 was built, El Reno, like hundreds of its counter part cities, quickly obliged its many travelers with a crop of restaurants, motels and service stations along the road.

Today, El Reno provides travelers with a peek at many old icons of the Mother Road as well as a look at the Old West. Take a ride on the Heritage Express Trolley, the only rail based trolley in Oklahoma and be sure to visit the Canadian County Historical Museum in the fully restored old Rock Island Depot that features all manner of area history.

Continued Next Page

Fort El Reno Cavalry Barracks today, November, 2005,

Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Fort El Reno Chapel today, November, 2005, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Fort El Reno Commisary and Weapons Magazine, November, 2005, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

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