Big Pasture
Encyclopedia
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The land had been reserved for grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
use by the Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, and Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
tribes after their reserve was opened for settlement by a lottery conducted during June through August 1901. The tribes, however, leased most of the land out to large ranchers and it became known as Big Pasture. The Big Pasture was maintained for grazing until June 5, 1906, when Congress passed an act (Chapter 2580, 34 Stat. 213) requiring that it be disposed of by allotting 160 acre (0.6474976 km²), in severalty, to each child born into the tribes after the act of 1900. The remaining land was sold by sealed bid in December 1906 and the proceeds placed in the U.S. Treasurey for the tribes. This was the last large tract of land opened for settlement in Oklahoma Territory.
History
If newspaper accounts are to be believed, Coronado crossed the middle of the Big Pasture in his search for QuiviraQuivira and Cíbola
Quivira is a place first mentioned by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541, who visited it during his searches for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold". The location and identity of the "Quivirans" has been much debated over a wide area, including Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri...
The Big Pasture was the scene of a well publicized wolf hunt by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
in 1905. He especially wanted to see John "Jack (Catch 'm Alive)" Abernathy from Frederick
Frederick, Oklahoma
Frederick is a city in Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,940 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tillman County. This is an agriculture based community primarily with wheat, cotton, and cattle....
catch wolves with his bare hands. This hunt and his visit with Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...
are often cited as reasons for his determination to create the nearby Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge
Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. Measuring about , the Refuge hosts a great diversity of species: 806...
and to return buffalo
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
to the wild. The Wichita Mountains had previously been designated only as a Forest Preserve when first put under protection by William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
in 1901.
Geography
The Big Pasture covered a strip of land 29 miles (47 km) north and south and 36 miles (58 km) east and west in what is now parts of ComancheComanche County, Oklahoma
Comanche County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Built on former reservation lands of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache in Indian Territory, Comanche County was open for settlement on August 16, 1901 by lottery. The region has three cities and seven towns as well as the Fort Sill...
, Cotton
Cotton County, Oklahoma
Cotton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 6,614. Its county seat is Walters.When Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907, the area which is now Cotton County fell within the boundaries of Comanche County...
and Tillman
Tillman County, Oklahoma
Tillman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 9,287. The county seat is Frederick. .-Geography:According to the U.S...
counties. The towns of Randlett
Randlett, Oklahoma
Randlett is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 511 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Randlett is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, Devol
Devol, Oklahoma
Devol is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Devol is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, Grandfield
Grandfield, Oklahoma
Grandfield is a city in Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,038 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Grandfield is located at ....
, Loveland
Loveland, Oklahoma
Loveland is a town in Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 13 at the 2010 census. Loveland once had a post office that has since closed...
, and Hollister
Hollister, Oklahoma
Hollister is a town in Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 50 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hollister is located at ....
(from east to west) are located in what was the Big Pasture. Randlett is home to Big Pasture Public Schools, a consolidated school system serving Devol
Devol, Oklahoma
Devol is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Devol is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, Cookietown
Cookietown, Oklahoma
Cookietown is a small unincorporated community in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for a mercantile at the crossroads owned by Marvin Cornelius, circa 1928.-References:...
, and Randlett
Randlett, Oklahoma
Randlett is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 511 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Randlett is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
.
Before settlement, the Big Pasture was mostly plains cut by two timbered draws. Captain Randolph B. Marcy
Randolph B. Marcy
Randolph Barnes Marcy was a career officer in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in 1881. Although beginning in 1861 his responsibilities were those of a brigadier general, the U.S...
in his Red River expedition in 1852 noted that the timbered regions he found along Cache Creek were the last of any size until he reached the foothills of the Rockies.