Prescribed Fires Planned for

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

Depending on weather conditions, the next cycle of planned winter/ spring burns are to resume at Washita Battlefield National Historic Site as announced today by Park Superintendent Wendy Lauritzen. “National Park Service fire specialists from Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and the USDA Black Kettle National Grassland crews expect to begin burning sometime between February 10 and March 31, 2007” stated Lauritzen. Two portions of the 315-acre park are planned that follow the multi-year restoration of native prairie grassland in this historic landscape. “Should weather conditions prevent the actions during this period, the one-day burn activity will be delayed to occur sometime during the next month or two".   

The purpose of these prescribed fires is to reduce the buildup of grassy fuels that feed wildfires and to reintroduce fire into the ecosystem. These fires will help the traditional plant distribution and reduce the danger associated with wildfires while improving conditions for firefighter safety in the event wildfires do occur in these areas.

The park may be closed to the public for a few hours during the prescription burn and people traveling in the area should use caution by reducing vehicle speed and turning on their headlights when smoke is present. One goal is to burn in prevailing wind conditions that results in the majority of smoke to move away from the town of Cheyenne and toward less populated areas. Park staff apologizes for any inconveniences that may occur during the burn. 

For more information, please contact the park headquarters at (580) 497-2742.

Special Programs Mark Anniversaries

of Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site will commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the park’s establishment through programs commemorating the 138^th anniversary of the November 27, 1868 attack and offering a sneak preview of park facilities under construction. On Saturday and Sunday, November 25 and 26, the National Park Service (NPS) will offer free “hard hat” tours of the Cultural Heritage Center now under construction along Highway 47A west of the town of Cheyenne. Anniversary programs involving guest speakers will occur on November 27 in Cheyenne, Oklahoma and on November 28 in Weatherford, Oklahoma. All events are free and open to the public.

The anniversary programs begin with a special ceremony at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, November 27 at the park’s overlook, next to Highway 47A. During the ceremony, keynote speakers will describe the importance and impacts of the violent clash that erupted on a bitterly cold morning 138 years ago along the banks of the Washita River. At dawn, Lt. Col. George A. Custer led the 7^th U.S. Cavalry’s attack upon the Southern Cheyenne village led by Peace Chief Black Kettle. Part of the ceremony will acknowledge the years of effort involved to establish Washita Battlefield National Historic Site as a unit in the National Park system on November 12, 1996. 

Two of the featured speakers for the 2:00 p.m. ceremony are Jerome A. Greene and Lawrence Hart. Greene is a National Park Service Research Historian and author of Washita: The U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867 - 1869.  Hart is a Cheyenne Peace Chief and the Director of the Cheyenne Culture Center in Clinton, Oklahoma.

Historian Greene conducted a NPS Historic Resource Study and his report was subsequently published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2004 as the book Washita. Greene’s comprehensive work provides a history of the events of November 27, 1868—including a thorough description of the attack’s causes and consequences. Greene will provide an evening presentation on his research and the development of his book during a 6:30 p.m. gathering on Monday, November 27, in the Agricultural Building in Cheyenne. After his presentation Greene will sign books during a reception. “This is a history for grown-ups, and not one of those fairy tales of good guys versus bad guys that so often masquerade as Indian wars history,” wrote series editor Dr. Gregory J. W. Urwin. “There are no heroes or villains in this book, but instead flawed human beings caught up in a tragic clash of cultures.”

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, in partnership with Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) is offering a special panel discussion opportunity on campus in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Tuesday, November 28. The program will be located in the Student Union at 9:30 a.m. A panel composed of historians and Cheyenne tribal members will discuss multiple perspectives of the attack’s meanings, impacts and the legacies that followed. Panel participants in this special dialogue will include Historian Jerome A. Greene, Cheyenne Peace Chief Lawrence Hart, Dr. Henrietta Mann—the Interim President of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal College on the SWOSU campus, and Cheyenne Chief Harvey Pratt—who is a forensic artist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The one-time offering of the park’s “hard hat” tours giving a sneak peek of the facilities under construction will begin “on the hour” from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. Hard hats will be provided to all visitors during the tour of the construction site and sturdy footwear is recommended. For safety purposes, group sizes will be kept small as participants are led through the construction site. A park ranger driven five-passenger golf cart will be available for driving tours around the facility for those needing assistance.

For more information about any one of these activities call the park headquarters at 580-497-2742 Ext. 0. Washita Battlefield National Historic Site will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and park rangers will be working at the Black Kettle Museum during the holiday.