THE HISTORY BEHIND RANDLETT PARK
ANADARKO – Whether you've lived in Anadarko your whole life or you've just spent a lot of time here, chances are you've probably spent more than a few days at Randlett Park. It's one of those places that's woven into the fabric of our community. Over the many years, it's seen everything from citywide celebrations and family gatherings to little league baseball games, playground adventures, and generations of kids growing up right here in our hometown.
And as always, it got us thinking. We all know the park, but who exactly was Col. James R. Randlett, and why was one of Anadarko's most prominent parks named after him? So, as we usually do, we went down another history rabbit hole, and y'all... we struck gold.
According to FindAGrave.com, Col. James R. Randlett, who is also listed in some historical records as James F. Randlett, was born on December 8th, 1832, in New Hampshire to Charles P. and Mary J. Randlett. The website states that he married Hannah Hodgdon in August of 1856, and together they had children before the Civil War changed the course of his life.
When the Civil War began, Randlett, without hesitation, answered the call to serve and enlisted in the U.S. Army in July of 1861. And less than a month later, he was commissioned as an officer. By the year of 1864, he had worked his way up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served with the 3rd New Hampshire Infantry Regiment and unfortunately was wounded during the war, but as impressive as his military career was, it was only one chapter in the story of the man whose name would eventually become a big part of Anadarko's history.
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Randlett's journey eventually brought him to Anadarko. In the year of 1899, he was appointed as the United States Indian Agent for the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Wichita, Caddo, and affiliated tribes at the Anadarko Agency, a position he held up until 1905. The encyclopedia also notes that he served during a very pivotal time in Oklahoma's history, as the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation was being divided into individual allotments and the remaining land was being prepared to open for non-Native settlement.
According to the City of Anadarko's website, while Randlett served as administrator of the Indian Agency, he was able to get approximately 38.6 acres of land from the federal government for what would become a public park. But his impact on Anadarko didn't stop there.
According to historian Sara Brown Mitchell in The Early Days of Anadarko, Randlett also played a role in deciding where the new town of Anadarko would be located before the 1901 land opening. Mitchell writes that he selected a site between the Indian Agency and the Methodist Mission, and that location eventually became the City of Anadarko we know today. Y'all... how cool is that? We had no clue.
And on top of that, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Randlett was a strong advocate for the tribes under his supervision. From what we found, he wasn't afraid to speak up when he believed something wasn't right. According to the encyclopedia, Randlett believed many tribal members had been pressured into signing the Jerome Agreement. He also warned federal officials that the land being given to them simply wasn't enough for many families to make a living through farming or ranching.
The more we learned about Randlett, the more the name "Randlett Park" started to mean something more than just a place on the map. After everything we discovered, it's easy to see why The City of Anadarko chose to honor him by naming the park after him.
According to the City of Anadarko's website, Randlett Park is officially designated as a historic district. Today, the park features walking trails, RV hookups, playgrounds, a splash pad, tennis courts, and fields for both baseball and softball.
And of course, we can't forget about some of the park's most well-known residents. According to the City of Anadarko, the peacocks were donated by local citizens in 2017 and have since become a favorite among park visitors. The park is also home to a small herd of goats, giving us all the more reason to stop and enjoy everything that Randlett Park has to offer.
It's funny how you can drive by somewhere hundreds of times without ever stopping to wonder how it got its name or the story that came before it. That's one of the things we love most about doing this series. Every Oklahoma town has places we see every day, but it's not until you start digging into the history that you realize there's an incredible story behind so many of them.
Sometimes, all it takes is asking one simple question to uncover a piece of our community's past that deserves to be remembered.
So, here's to preserving Oklahoma's history, one story written in stone at a time.
Sources: Information for this article was gathered from the City of Anadarko's official website, FindAGrave.com, the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, and historian Sara Brown Mitchell's article, The Early Days of Anadarko, published in The Chronicles of Oklahoma. We encourage everyone to check out these resources if you'd like to learn even more about the history of Randlett Park, Col. James R. Randlett, and the early days of Anadarko.
