Bounded on the east by the Osage Plains, Canadian County marks the beginning of the gradual topographical uplifting that eventually rises from the Red Bed Plains to the Gypsum Hills to the High Plains. It is commonly referred to as a part of the short grass country. The county's dominant geographical features are the Canadian and North Canadian rivers which bisect the region in a general northwest to southeast flow. Although other theories have been postulated, the rivers probably were named for Canada by the early French traders making their way into the region from New Orleans along the Mississippi, Arkansas, and Canadian river system. The county takes its name from the la Riviere des Canadiens, French for Canadian Rivers.
The earliest documented inhabitants of Canadian County were the Quaviran (Wichita) peoples of the Caddoan linguistic family. Sedentary in their habits, they farmed small patches of soil around which they lived in clusters of grass-thatched, part timber-framed and sod-covered lodges. These dome-shaped, earth-covered mounds once were plentiful in Canadian County.
Later Canadian County became the home for numerous bands of Plains Indians such as the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache. Characterized as "Hunters of the Plains", they established no permanent settlements but instead followed the huge herds of buffalo, on which their lifestyle depended, across the region. When the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation was divided into individual allotments, most of the Indians chose land on the north bank of the Canadian River and on both sides of the North Canadian River from Fort Reno westward. Today descendants of these tribes are clustered throughout the county. In particular, the Arapaho occupy the rural area around Geary and numerous Cheyenne live near El Reno and Concho.
Based on the explorations of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and Hernando De Soto, Canadian County initially was claimed by Spain as part of its new world empire. Later came the French explorers, and the region became a part of New France. The earliest European explorers in Canadian County were Pierre and Paul Mallet, who followed the Canadian River through Canadian County on their way from Santa Fe to the Mississippi River in 1740.
In 1762 France ceded all of its claims between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. The area was returned to France by Spain in 1800 by the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In 1803, the area was purchased by the United States from France. Thus Canadian County came under American control and was administered as a part of the Territory of Missouri. In 1819, it was made a part of Arkansas Territory.
The first American explorer to penetrate Canadian County was Stephen H. Long, who in 1820 followed the Canadian River from the Rocky Mountains to its junction with the Arkansas River and then to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Long was followed by Josah Gregg, who followed the north bank of the Canadian River in 1839 through Canadian County with 14 wagons on his way from Van Buren, Arkansas, to Santa Fe. He returned the following year, 1840, with 28 wagons and 200 mules. In 1843, Nathan Boone crossed the extreme southwestern tip of Canadian County on his way from Fort Smith to the Great Salt Plains.
Although these early explorers described the Canadian River valley as filled with "large and beautiful groves" of timber with the same "intermixture of field and forest as in the most highly cultivated portions of the eastern states", the region was misnamed as the Great American Desert and deemed uninhabitable by Whites. It therefore became a part of the public domain set aside for a huge Indian reservation that covered most of southern Nebraska; a portion of southeast Wyoming; northeast Colorado; all of Kansas, but the extreme southwest corner; and all of Oklahoma, but the panhandle. Canadian County was a part of this reserve..
That part of Canadian County south of the Canadian River was given to the Choctaw Nation, under the provisions of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, signed in 1830. That part of Canadian County north of the Canadian River was given to the Creek Nation by the Treaty of Washington in 1832. When the Chickasaws signed the Treaty of Pontotoc in 1832, they agreed to share in the Creek lands in present-day Oklahoma, but because the Choctaws arrived first and settled in the eastern part of their new homeland most of the Chickasaws were forced to settle in the western part, which contained a part of present-day Canadian County.
In 1855, the Choctaws and Chickasaws divided the land they had previously held in common, and leased that portion of Canadian County south of the Canadian River to the United States as a home for the Wichitas and "such other tribes of Indians as the Government may desire to locate therein." In 1856, the Creeks and Seminoles divided their land, with the Seminoles receiving that portion of Canadian County between the Canadian and North Canadian rivers and the Creeks that portion of the county north of the North Canadian River.
At the close of the Civil War, the Creek, Seminoles, Choctaws, and Chickasaws were forced to cede their portions of Canadian County to the Federal government. The Federal government in turn used the ceded land as reservations for various tribes of Plains Indians. That portion of Canadian County west of the 98th meridian and south of the Canadian River became part of the Wichita and Caddo Reservation. That portion of Canadian County north of the Canadian River and west of the 98th meridian became a part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation. That part of Canadian County east of the 98th meridian became known as the Unassigned Lands, inasmuch as no tribes were settled there.
As early as 1859, Caddo George Washington established a trading post on the Canadian River west of Union City to trade with the Plains Indians. To more readily serve the tribes settled in present-day Canadian County, Indian Agent Briton Darlington, moved what became the Darlington Agency for the Cheyenne and Arapaho to a point near the intersection of the 98th meridian and the North Canadian River in 1869. The Cheyenne moved their agency to Concho, five miles north and two west of El Reno, in 1897. In 1909, Darlington was abandoned and the two agencies reunited at Concho.
Fort Reno was established in 1874 by the United States Army on the south side of the North Canadian River from Darlington to protect the agency. In 1874, some Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho left the reservation in an attempt to return to the Northern Plains. They were pursued by troops from Fort Reno and trapped at Sand Creek northwest of the post. The troops opened fire with a gattling gun and the Indians quickly were defeated. This was the only engagement of the general Indian uprising of 1874 that took place in Canadian County.
The only additional serious Indian trouble came during the Ghost Dance Uprising of the 1890s, and there was little, if any, actual violence associated with the movement in Canadian County. However, Coyote Hill, near Geary, was the scene of many religious ceremonies as the Cheyenne and Arapaho awaited their messiah, who would drive away the Whites, return the buffalo, and re-establish the Indian way of life.
Fort Reno remained in service until 1948. Just to the east of Fort Reno, during the Spanish-American War another unnamed military camp was established in July of 1898. However, it was abandoned one month later in August of 1898.
Canadian County was crossed by several of the early routes and trails that served present-day Oklahoma. Many of the early roads, such as the California Road, followed the Canadian River through the county. It was used by many of the 49ers rushing to the gold fields of California and remained a major east-west communication route well into the 1880s. Another important route through Canadian County was the Fort Reno to Camp Supply Military Road, which left Fort Reno and followed the watershed between the Canadian and North Canadian rivers westward into Grady County.
One of the most important trails through Canadian County was the Chisholm Trail which entered Canadian County after crossing the Canadian River in sections 14, 15 and 16 of T10N, R6W. Once across the river the trail split. One route ran northeastward between Union City and Mustang, crossing what is today Highway 152 approximately 10 miles east of Union City. From there the route ran almost due north through the west edge of Yukon to a point about one mile west of Piedmont. Here the trail veered northwest and crossed the Canadian-Kingfisher county line about 10 miles east of Okarche. The other branch, which also was used as a stagecoach route, turned northwest after crossing the Canadian River and crossed present-day Highway 152 four miles east of Union City. Continuing northwest, the second branch passed across the west edge of El Reno and the northeast corner of the Fort Reno Military Reservation. It crossed the North Canadian River in Section 25 of T13N, R8W and ran northward to the western edge of Okarche on the Canadian-Kingfisher county line. Portions of the trail still can be located in Sections 25 and 36 of T11N, R6W; Section 9 of T11N, R5W; and Section 32 of T12N, R5W.
The stage road between Fort Sill and Wichita, Kansas, crossed the Canadian River into Canadian County near the southwest corner of T11N, R8W just east of Caddo George Washington's trading post. From there it ran north to the center of T12N, R8W and then veered northeast for about two miles before turning almost due north, passing about four miles east of Fort Reno, to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Agency at Darlington. From the Cheyenne-Arapaho Agency the road ran across the northwest corner of T13N, R7W to Caddo Springs and then North through T14N, R7W into present-day Kingfisher County. The stage road joined the Fort Cobb to Shawnee Town road at Caddo George Washington's and crossed the California Road about a mile and a half north of the trading post.
Because of its centralized location and early settlement, Canadian County became a center for the railroad network serving the entire state. The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad began building south from Caldwell, Kansas, in 1890, and followed the approximate route of the Chisholm Trail through Canadian County and into Texas. It reached El Reno during the winter of 1889-1890 and gave the community a commercial outlet into Kansas and other points east. By 1892 the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific had completed its line south into Texas and opened up a transportation link with the Gulf Coast. In 1902, the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific purchased the Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railroad which gave the railroad a major east-west route across the state and tied the new lines into its north-south rail network at El Reno. El Reno also became the western terminus of the Fort Smith and Western Railway that ran eastward to Fort Smith. In addition, the Oklahoma Railway, an interurban line, operated streetcars that connected El Reno with Bethany, Yukon, Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond, and Guthrie. Because of its railroad outlets, El Reno became the most important transportation and distribution center for the southwestern part of Oklahoma Territory and the surrounding Indian reserves.
Also because of its centralized location, El Reno became a major repair, maintenance, and financial center for the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad. The community, took its name from nearby Fort Reno, named for Major General Jesse L. Reno, a Union officer killed at the Civil War Battle of Antietam. When Canadian County was opened to homesteaders in 1889, two separate communities were established with El Reno on the south side of the Canadian River and Reno City on the north side. When the railroad built through El Reno instead of Reno City, most of the residents of Reno City moved to El Reno. They brought most of their buildings, including one three-story hotel, with them by placing the structures on supports and skidding them across the shallow river.
El Reno quickly grew into one of the state's major rail centers, with extensive repair and service facilities. At one time 500 people were employed by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad in the community. With the financial base supplied by the railroad, El Reno boomed, and developed an extensive commercial and business district by the end of the 19th century. Many of these early buildings, several of which still exist, either were financed by or served the railroad interests of the town.
Beginning in 1889, the various parts of Canadian County were opened to non-Indian settlement. On April 22, 1889, the Unassigned Lands were opened by run. The following year, 1890, that portion of present-day Canadian County east of the 98th meridian was formed into Canadian County, Oklahoma Territory, and El Reno named the county seat. On April 19, 1892, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation was opened by run, and that part of present-day Canadian County north of the Canadian River was added to Canadian County, Oklahoma Territory. On August 6, 1901, the Wichita and Caddo Reservation was opened by lottery, and that portion of present-day Canadian County south of the Canadian River was added to Canadian County, Oklahoma Territory. At statehood on November 16, 1907, all counties in Oklahoma Territory became counties in the State of Oklahoma.
The opening of Canadian County to homesteaders fueled El Reno's boom, which had been started by the coming of the railroad. The community served as a major starting point for the Cheyenne-Arapaho run and was the center for the Kiowa-Comanche lottery. As each opening brought more settlers to Canadian County, El Reno became the center of a large agricultural trade center that eventually led to the construction of two huge flour mills and the founding of numerous other business concerns which served the surrounding farming-ranching economy.
In opening the individual parcels of present-day Canadian County to homesteaders between 1889 and 1901, the Federal government distributed the public domain of the last of America's agricultural frontiers. The opening of the lands corresponded with the huge influx of immigrants from Germany, Italy, Russia, and southeastern Europe. Inasmuch as Canadian County was a part of the last portion of the public domain to be thrown open to homesteaders, it was natural that many of these immigrants were attracted to the region.
By 1910, Canadian County had 1,308 foreign born residents, which comprised 5.6 percent of the population. In that year, Canadian County contained 510 German-speaking foreign born residents (the largest percentage in the state). El Reno contained one of the largest German immigrant colonies in Oklahoma. Other clusters of German-speaking foreign born residents of Canadian County were located near Okarche and Union City. Many of these German-speaking immigrants were Mennonites. One of the region's Mennonite churches was located on the Canadian-Blaine county line just to the east of Geary.
Canadian County contained two German-language newspapers at one time, the Oklahoma Staats-Zeitung and Der Oklahoma Courier. In addition, Canadian County had one German social club. Okarche, particularly in Canadian County, boasted one of the largest concentrations of non-rural Germans in the state. The community was the home of several cooperative German business ventures, including the Deutscher Farmers Gegenseitigen Feuer Versicherungs-Veren (German Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Association) and the Gesellschaft aue Fabrikation von Butter und Kase (Cooperative for the Production of Butter and Cheese).
Canadian County also contained the third largest concentration of Czech immigrants in the state in 1910. Because many of the Czechs were able to obtain work on the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad, the earliest Czech settlements in Oklahoma were located in el Reno, Yukon, and Mustang. Basically these early Czech settlers were members of the Kroutil, Michalicka, Corbry, Kouba, Pachta, Svoboda, Rabstejnek, Stejkovsky, Pribyl, Stejskal, Kaspar, Divis, Smrchka, Zidek, Maly, Nespor, Ruzicka, Zahradka, Funda, Berousek, Skocdople, Kassl, and Karbucky families. Deeply religious, the Czechs quickly established Catholic parishes. One of the oldest, St. John Nepomuk of Yukon was established in 1894.
The Czechs of Canadian County clung to their culture. In 1908, Sokol Havlicek founded the monthly newspaper, Havilcek, printed in Yukon. Frank Bronec, of Richland, six miles north of Yukon in Canadian County, wrote both of the two Czech-language books ever published in Oklahoma, they are: Ceske koruny a o ceskem statu (The Czech Crown Lands and the Czech State), published in 1906; and Stesk po stari vlast (Longing for the Old Country), published in 1908. Canadian County also contains three lodges of the Zapadni Cesko-Bratrska Jednota, or ZCBJ, originally translated as the Western Bohemian Fraternal Association that were established within Canadian County prior to 1935. Yukon's Jan Zizka Lodge No. 67 was established in 1899 and Yukon Lodge No. 281 was established in 1925. Another lodge, El Reno Lodge No. 438, was created in 1967. Canadian County also contains Sokols, designed to promote nationalistic, liberal, and educational ideals among the Czechs. The Skol Karel Havlick was formed in Yukon in 1898.
Canadian County's history reflects that of the entire state of Oklahoma. Indeed the basic threads of Oklahoma's unique heritage are prominent in the colorful tapestry that is the Canadian County experience. The Caddoan Indians, various Plains Tribes, four of the Five Civilized Tribes, the range cattle industry, the frontier military experience, land runs and land lotteries, various ethnic settlements, rich agriculture, and oil and gas production, the establishment, growth (and death) of communities, all are part of Canadian County's history.
About Canadian County