Have you ever heard of Fort Nichols, Oklahoma?

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PanhandleGlocker

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Might be interesting to a few of you.. I was researching the Cimarron River for no real good reason other than historic interests and came across this information.. didn’t know it was a thing and I thought I was pretty familiar with that area of Cimarron County. Copied from Wikipedia:

Camp Nichols also known as Fort Nichols was a short-lived historic fortification located in present-day Cimarron County, Oklahoma about 3 miles northwest of the community of Wheeless, OK. It was built by New Mexico and California volunteers under the command of Col. Kit Carson to protect travelers on the most dangerous part of the Cimarron Cut-off of the Santa Fe Trail from raids by the Kiowa and Comanche Indians. Established in May 1865 and abandoned in September 1865, it was the only manmade structure along the Cimarron Cut-off while it was an active route. It is believed to have been named for Captain Charles P. Nichols of the First California Cavalry. Here are the forts coordinates: 36° 45′ 14.22″ N, 102° 55′ 35.15″ W


The site was about half way (150 miles) between Fort Union and the Cimarron Crossing of the Arkansas River. The camp was originally a stockaded fort, measuring 200 feet by 200 feet. There were six stone buildings that served as officers' quarters, one building that was the quartermaster's store and an unknown number of stone walled tents housing the soldiers. The facility was surrounded by earth and stone breastworks. Only ruins remain; much of the stone has been removed by people wishing to use it in building other structures. The site is on private property and is not accessible to the public.

Cedar Spring, about 0.25 miles west of the fort, provided fresh water for the camp and for passing wagon trains. The remains of the Cimarron Cutoff are about 0.5 miles south of the camp, and are said to be the most impressive remains of the entire trail. This is how the fort looks today from Google Earth:

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PanhandleGlocker

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Found another little historical piece on the Fort:

http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/spacepix/camp-nichols.html

“The summer of 1865 was related many years later by Mrs. R. D. (Marian) Russell;

In May, 1865, orders were given Kit Carson to march eastward along the Santa Fe Trail, which passed Fort Union, and establish a cantonment for the protection of the wagon trains and stages along the route to the end of the railways in Missouri and Kansas. The Arapaho and Apache had added their forces to the Cheyennes, Kiowas and Comanches, and wagon trains had almost ceased trying to cross the Plains without military escort.

Colonel Carson located Camp Nichols at Cedar Bluffs, about midway between the North Canadian River crossing and Cold Spring and about a mile north of the Santa Fe Trail, on or about May 31st. The high ground there commanded a fine view of the surrounding country, with a small stream about 600 feet away. It was 25 miles west of present Boise City, and 5 miles north of present Mexhoma, Oklahoma: and was completed in June, with stone walls 200 feet square. Camp Nichols was abandoned on or about September 22, 1865, after its troops had escorted many trains to Fort Dodge and Fort Larned, and to Fort Union.

It has ever been the policy of this government to keep always in mind the permanent good of the white man while bestowing as many indulgences upon the lndian as it could.

I did not go to the new point of defense until about 2 weeks after the troops had been at work at Camp Nichols, as it was called, some 120 miles east of Fort Union. I was then 20 years of age.

Kit Carson, who marched from Fort Union with his regulars and selected the site, would not let me make this initial journey in May, although I begged that I might accompany my husband and others and scoffed at the idea of danger. But the colonel was obdurate. Perhaps 15 days after their arrival at Cedar Bluffs, he ordered Lieutenant Russell to proceed with wagons and an escort to Fort Union and on his return I accompanied him to Camp Nichols.

On our arrival in June, 1865. we lived in army tents until our houses were completed. The latter were built of stone, half in the ground and half above, and had dirt roofs supported by logs.Timber for roofs and other purposes was cut at the head of one of the canyons 11 miles west, and laboriously hauled to the new camp. The rooms were just on the outside of the fort, some 20' from the south wall.

In these officers' quarters lived Major A. H. Pfeiffer, in command after Carson left, Capt. R. C. Kemp, Capt. Strom (California Company), Capt. William Henderson and Lieutenants John Drenner, Campbell and Ortner. We had also 10 Indian scouts and 2 squaws and there were 2 laundresses, wives of Mexican soldiers of one of the companies, who washed for the infantry and cavalry, each soldier paying $1 a month for laundry work. Mrs. Henderson, wife of the officer, and I, with the above were the only women in camp.

The soldiers, some 300 in number, slept in tents and dugouts within the enclosure. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes were especially bad east along the Trail, and every 2 weeks, as the wagon trains collected from the west at Nichols, an escort of our soldiers would accompany them to Fort Dodge or Larned and return with wagons westbound.”​
 

dennishoddy

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As a side note to this thread, I've visited the Kit Carson Museum in Taos New Mexico twice while wife was visiting the trinket stores in the vicinity.
What an amazing American. Several times he traveled by horseback to Washington DC to argue his point with the politicians, then traveled all the way back to Ok, New Mexico, or Colorado. He worked with Jim Bridger and other mountain men, scouted for the Military, fought in the wars and a host of other accomplishments.
The more I read about him, the more I'm impressed with his history.

https://www.biography.com/military-figure/kit-carson
 

Duncandl

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History has not shared that many native folks headed west before the trail of tears. It wasn’t a popular decision but those that made the early trip life was certainly better when allowed to progress on land that was “given” instead of “forced”. Both words used rather loosely as it is hard to fathom what really happened back then.
 

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