Canadian Co., Oklahoma

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Canadian Co., History

Sand Hills -- site of the last great Indian fight in Oklahoma, fought by a company of soldiers in 1875 while guarding the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency at Darlington from an Indian outbreak. Located about a mile northwest of Darlington.

General Sheridan's Headquarters -- at Fort Reno, where he was stationed late in the 1870's during the time he was engaged in helping round up the renegade Indians. Moved to Adams Park on the outskirts of El Reno.

Darlington -- named for Brinton Darlington who was sent to the site in 1869 to establish an agency for the Cheyenne and Arapahos. A Quaker, he was much loved by the Indians but was unequal in physical strength for the strenuous task and died in 1872. His body lies in the Indian cemetery one mile south
of Concho.

Cheyenne Transporter -- First newspaper published in western Oklahoma launched by Lafe Merritt at Darlington in 1879 for the population at the Indian agency and for cattlemen who leased Indian lands for their cattle herds in this area. The paper lasted for six years. It carried the brands of all of the cattlemen in this section.

Caddo Springs -- presently known as Concho (named for Agent Shell), was named for the famed springs located on the old Stage Trail from Caldwell, Kans., through Darlington and Fort Reno to Fort Sill. This was a favorite camping place for both Indians and freighters in the early days due to abundance of the sparkling cold water. The Cheyenne school was first built here in 1879
and in the 1880's the agency was moved from Darlington to this location and the name changed from Caddo Springs to Concho.

Mennonite Mission -- built in the early 1890's by the Mennonite church just east of Darlington.

Fort Reno -- established in February, 1876 to house the troops which were frequently sent to Darlington to protect the officials of the Indian agency and the friendly Indians. The garrison provided police protection for the old Oklahoma area before and during the opening of 1889. Became a regimental headquarters during Spanish-American war. Changed to remount station in 1908 to provide mounts for army. In World War II added training of pack outfits and sent thousands of mules and their drivers to India. Following the war trained and furnished thousands of mounts and mules for Greece and Turkey.
In 1949 the military activities were abandoned and the property was turned to the Department of Agriculture.

Chisholm Trail -- The great route for running the huge cattle heads from Texas to the nearest railroads in Kansas to be transported to the meat hungry eastern markets. Crossed South Canadian a few miles west of Mustang, veered northeast to west edge of present Yukon, then across North Canadian and northwest to vicinity of Okarche. An estimated two million cattle were driven over this route before the first railroad penetrated the Indian country into Texas.

Ghost towns -- Frisco City and Reno City were the outstanding municipalities platted during the opening as both had aspirations for the county seat. Frisco City, located three miles northwest of Yukon, settled by Union veterans, faded away when the Choctaw railway built on the south side of the North Canadian river. Was an active candidate for the county seat, but El
Reno won the election by devious means. Reno City, located three miles north of El Reno, also died when the Rock Island railway built a mile west instead of passing through it.

Land Drawing of 1901 -- Conducted at the present day site of Irving School in El Reno when the Kiowa-Comanche lands were distributed by lottery with 30,000 people looking on.

Additional Links of Interest

Canadian County Resources

Oklahoma Resources Link |Canadian County Genealogical Society| Canadian County Genealogical Society On-Line Resources| Canadian County Biographies, Wills, Obits, Stories, and Family Histories| Canadian County Resource| Rock Island Railroad - Group Picture, Circa 1915| Mennovile Mennonite Church |Oak Grade school District 66 band class picture in 1937|Oklahoma Vietnam War Casualties|State of Oklahoma - Combat Area Casualties, 1957-1986

|INFORMATION ON THE CANADIAN CO. CEMETERY|

CALUMENT TOWNSHIP - CALUMET CEMETERY	CEMENT TOWNSHIP - Canadian Valley (McCRAY)
DARLINGTON TOWNSHIP - Ft. Reno (Military, Civilian And P.O.W.), Concho Indian	EL RENO TOWNSHIP - El Reno Cemetery, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7 Forehand (Banner), Worthington Cemetery
FRISCO TOWNSHIP - Frisco Cemetery	MAPLE TOWNSHIP - Red Rock Cemetery
MATHEWSON TOWNSHIP - Mathewson Cemetery Kansas (Starr)	MUSTANG TOWNSHIP- Mustang Cemetery, A.K.A. Riverside, Old Church, & Red Hill), Mustang City Cemetery
OAK TOWNSHIP- Swapping Back Mission	PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP - Federal Correctional Institution, Buena Vista
RENO TOWNSHIP - Oak Chapel (Oakland)	ROCK ISLAND TOWNSHIP - Mennovile Mennonite Church Cemetery, Palmer, Beecham, St. John’s Lutheran, Okarche, Holy Trinity Catholic
UNION TOWNSHIP - St Joseph’s Catholic, Union City Cemetery, Old Lutheran Union, Pleasant View (Alger)	VALLEY TOWNSHIP- Sunnyhill (Midway)
WEST WALNUT TOWNSHIP - Canyon (German Evangelical Lutheran), Niles Cemetery	YUKON TOWNSHIP - Yukon Cemetery
Beecham Cemetery	Buena Vista Cemetery
Canadian Valley Cemetery	Index of Burials in El Reno Cemetery
Forehand Cemetery	Fort Reno Cemetery
Fort Reno POW Cemetery	Holy Trinity Cemetery
Kansas Cemetery	Mathewson Cemetery
Mennonite Cemetery	Mustang Cemetery
Oakland Cemetery	Okarche Cemetery
Old Lutheran Cemetery	St. Johns Lutheran
Palmer Cemetery	Pleasant View AKA Alger Cemetery
Red Rock Cemetery	Riverside
Kolb Cemetery

Obituaries

Canadian County Biographies, Wills, Obits, Stories, and Family Histories|

Queries & Lookups

|Canadian County Lookups| Read Canadian County Queries submitted prior to 1/24/1998| Read Canadian County Surnames submitted prior to 1/24/1998

Canadian County Research Helps

| Gene Stark's Index of Names for all GenWeb Sites| About the Oklahoma GenWeb Project|

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If you have something to add to this web site, please feel free to e-mail me at: canadian-co@okgenweb.org

Special Thanks to Debbie Blevins
Canadian Co. OKGenWeb Coordinator from 1998 - 2009