THE HISTORY OF FORT COBB

FORT COBB — Folks, today we're diving into the history of Fort Cobb. We are going to talk about how the town got its name, the story behind the original US Army fort, and how the Fort Cobb Reservoir, known to most of us as Fort Cobb Lake, came to be.

So, we are going to jump right in. Fasten your seatbelts and let's take a trip back to the 1800's.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the Wichita Agency was established in 1859 by Elias Rector, who was the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Indian Territory at that time. It’s reported that the agency was built near Cobb Creek, which was then known as Pond Creek, just outside of what is now the town of Anadarko.

And we are mentioning this because that’s where the story of Fort Cobb really began.

Around that same time, Major William H. Emory established Fort Cobb along the Washita River. According to historical records, the fort was built to help protect the relocated Wichita and several other Native American tribes from Texas from raids by the Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne. Before anybody comes after us, this is just what the historical account we found said. We're sharing what was documented at the time, not rewriting history or adding our own opinions

According to the same historical accounts, the original fort was located about three miles west of the Wichita Agency on the west side of the Washita River. So, we think it’s safe to say that the two locations were fairly close to each other.

The historical account published by the Oklahoma Historical Society goes on to explain that as the Civil War grew closer, Major Emory decided to move his troops to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. After his troops left Fort Cobb, Texas Confederate soldiers ended up occupying Fort Cobb for a short time before the fort was eventually abandoned for the rest of the war.

And just a few years later in 1868, the Army troops came back and reopened Fort Cobb. But by then, sadly there wasn't much left to come back to. According to historical records, many of the soldiers had to live in dugouts covered with tents because most of the original buildings were gone, lost during the war. But they weren’t there for a very long time as they left for Fort Sill in Lawton once that was established in 1869, and Fort Cobb was abandoned for good on March 12th, 1869.

So, even though the actual military Fort Cobb was only around for a short period of time, it still ended up playing a very important part in our early history. And as the years passed, more people began settling in the area, and eventually a small community began to grow into what is now known to us as Fort Cobb. Pretty neat, right?

So, now that we've covered the history behind Fort Cobb, we're going to briefly touch on Fort Cobb Lake because we have a few questions for y’all. You'll see what we mean shortly.

Now, please keep in mind that we don't usually rely on Wikipedia when we are researching our stories, but for this next part, it was one of the only places we could find that pulled several historical details together in one place. As always, we encourage y'all to do your own digging as well.

According to Wikipedia & TravelOK, Fort Cobb Reservoir was completed in 1958 and essentially connects the waters of Cobb Creek, Lake Creek, and Willow Creek. The lake itself covers about 2,000 acres and a shoreline of roughly forty-five miles long.

The lake is also home to Fort Cobb Dam, which is reported to be located about five miles north of the town of Fort Cobb and stands about 122 feet tall. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the dam and reservoir were built as part of the Washita Basin Project. Their main purpose was to provide a dependable water supply to Anadarko and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative through the Anadarko Aqueduct, while also helping reduce flooding.

Apart from that, it's also a place where many people today enjoy having picnics, camping, swimming, and fishing. There's also Fort Cobb State Park, which features a golf course and a designated hunting area.

Now, this next part is unconfirmed, and we are only sharing what was told to us, so again, do not come for us in the comments. We were told that before Fort Cobb Reservoir was built, there was reportedly a cemetery somewhere in the area and that several of the graves had to be moved before construction began.

We did search for publicly available records that could help confirm that claim, but we could not find anything. So, at this point, this is not something we have been able to personally verify. But, we still wanted to share what we were told, because we have a few questions. We are curious to know whether any of y'all have ever heard this story before.

So, what do y'all know? Have you ever heard of this story before? If you have any information, old newspaper clippings, family stories, or historical records, drop them in the comments below.

Sources: Information for this story was gathered from the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, TravelOK, and, for the section discussing the reservoir's general history, Wikipedia. As always, we encourage y'all to do your own research, if there are any inconsistences or corrections needed to be made, let us know and we will gladly update.

L. David Norris, “Fort Cobb (fort),” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=FO029.

Cynthia Savage, “Fort Cobb (town),” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=FO030.