Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, 1859
Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, was established on October 1, 1859, to supervise the move of Texas Indians into Oklahoma. Under the guidance of Major W.H. Emory of Fort Arbuckle, the post was built by two companies of the First Cavalry and one company of the First Infantry. Constructed on the high ground east of the present-day town of the same name, the buildings consisted of wood and adobe.
During the Civil War, the post was occupied by both Confederate and Union forces. After the vast majority of Indians took up with the southern forces, Union troops retreated north into Kansas in May 1861, and Confederate soldiers took over the post. The post was sacked by Indians in October 1862 but continued to be held intermittently by Confederate commands until the close of the Civil War.
It was re-garrisoned by Federal soldiers in the Fall of 1868, serving as a post for soldiers during the Indian Wars. General George Armstrong Custer’s command was encamped at Fort Cobb from December 1868 to January 1869. Shortly afterward, the fort was abandoned in March 1869.
Today, nothing is left of the post besides a monument in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022.
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