Black Kettle National Grassland

Protected prairie in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma and Hemphill County, Texas

35°37′00″N 99°41′12″W / 35.6166°N 99.68655°W / 35.6166; -99.68655Area31,286 acres (12,661 ha)^[1]Established1960Governing bodyU.S. Forest ServiceWebsiteBlack Kettle and McClellan Creek National Grasslands

The Black Kettle National Grassland, in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, and Hemphill County, Texas, contains 31,286 acres (12,661 ha) of which 30,710 acres (12,430 ha) are in Oklahoma.^[1]

Named for the Indian leader Black Kettle, the grassland is managed by the Cibola National Forest, which also manages the Rita Blanca National Grassland in Dallam County, Texas and Cimarron County, Oklahoma, and McClellan Creek National Grassland in Gray County, Texas.^[2]

Setting

The National Grassland consists of about 100 tracts of land interspaced with privately owned ranchland. It is located in the mixed grass prairie region. The terrain is characterized by sandy and red slate hills in addition to grassland and oak brush. The creek bottoms are wooded with cottonwood, elm, and hackberry. Wildlife includes white-tailed deer, turkey and quail. The Washita River flows through the grassland. It is a small stream here near its headwaters, only a few feet wide and shallow. The nearest town is Cheyenne where the grassland headquarters is located.^[3]

History

The Washita River flows through the National Grassland.

This Black Kettle National Grassland was home to the Comanche and other nomadic Indian tribes who camped and hunted in the area, attracted by abundant water and wood and buffalo herds. In 1868 Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led an attack on a Cheyenne village here in what was called the Battle of the Washita. The grassland is named for Black Kettle (Cheyenne: Mo'ohtavetoo'o), the Southern Cheyenne leader killed in the river fleeing the attack. The area became part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian reservation in 1867, but the treaty lands were partitioned and shrunk by multiple federal acts, including the Dawes Act which carved the land into parcels owned by individual households, and was opened to private settlement in 1892. Farmers enjoyed many years of good crops during an unusually wet period, especially wheat, until the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. "Poor conservation and agricultural practices, combined with periods of wind, drought, and rain stripped the area of its topsoil" and the government bought the land from bankrupt farmers. In 1938, the Soil Conservation Service began a replanting and restoration effort and in 1960 it was designated a national grassland. The grassland is used for recreation, oil and gas production, and cattle grazing.^[4]

Recreation

There are three developed recreation areas in Oklahoma and one in Texas. Dead Warrior Lake (formerly Dead Indian Lake) is 80 acres (32 ha) in size and is 11 miles (18 km) north of Cheyenne. Spring Creek Lake is 14 miles (23 km) north of Cheyenne and is 50 acres (20 ha) in size. Sixty-acre (24 ha) Skipout Lake is 10 miles (16 km) west of Cheyenne. A 1.75-mile (2.82 km) hiking trail circles the lake. Lake Marvin in Texas is 63 acres (25 ha) acres in size. All lakes offer fishing, picnicking, and primitive camping sites. Hiking, wildlife observation, and hunting are permitted on most of the National Grasslands acreage.^[5]^[6] Croton Creek Watchable Wildlife Area, about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Cheyenne has two trail loops totaling 1.6 miles (2.6 km).^[7]

The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site is located just west of Cheyenne and offers a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) walking trail, a visitors center, and a panoramic view of the Battlefield and the National Grassland.^[8]

North of the grassland is the South Canadian River which flows through a steep and hilly canyon. On the northern side of the River in Ellis County is the Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area, 19,659 acres (7,956 ha) of mixed grass prairie, forested river bottomland, and colorful red sand hills. Hunting for white-tailed deer, quail, and turkey is popular.^[9] Near Packsaddle is the Nature Conservancy's Four Canyon Preserve, 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of similar terrain. The Conservancy is attempting to eradicate non-native plant species from the Preserve and enhance prairie habitat for species such as the vulnerable Lesser Prairie Chicken.^[10]

Grasslands are believed to be the most endangered ecosystem in North America.^[11] The National Grassland, Packsaddle, and Four Canyon preserve a significant remnant of mixed grass prairie and free-flowing prairie river.

A scene of the Black Kettle region with the Antelope Hills in the background. The shinnery oak brush (*Quercus havardii*) in this picture is typical of sandy soils.

References

^ ^a ^b "Land Areas of the National Forest System". U.S. Forest Service. January 2013. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
^ "Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
^ Scott Parry. "Black Kettle Wildlife Management Area". wildlifedepartment.com. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ Dana Jackson. "BLACK KETTLE NATIONAL GRASSLAND". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ "Black Kettle National Grassland". LASR Leisure and Sports Review. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ Birding Texas. "Lake Marvin and Gene Howe Wildlife Management Area". trails.com. Falcon Publishing. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ "Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma". wildlifedepartment.com. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ "Washita Battlefield - Plan Your Visit". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ Scott Parry. "Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area". wildlifedepartment.com. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ "Four Canyon Preserve". nature.org. The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^ "Milnesand Prairie Preserve". nature.org. The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved March 10, 2012.

External links

Media related to Black Kettle National Grassland at Wikimedia Commons
Black Kettle and McClellan Creek National Grasslands

Protected areas of Texas

Federal

National Parks	Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains
National monuments and memorials	Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Castner Range National Monument Chamizal National Memorial Military Working Dog Teams National Monument Waco Mammoth National Monument
National Historical Parks and Historic Sites	Fort Davis NHS Lyndon B. Johnson NHP Palo Alto Battlefield NHP San Antonio Missions NHP
National Historic Trails	El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Recreation Areas	Amistad Lake Meredith
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Rio Grande
National Wildlife Refuges	Anahuac Aransas Attwater Prairie Chicken Balcones Canyonlands Big Boggy Brazoria Buffalo Lake Caddo Lake Grulla Hagerman Laguna Atascosa Little Sandy Lower Rio Grande Valley McFaddin Muleshoe Neches River San Bernard Santa Ana Texas Point Trinity River
National Forests	Angelina Davy Crockett Sabine Sam Houston
National Grasslands	Caddo Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Rita Blanca
Other Protected Areas	Big Thicket National Preserve Padre Island National Seashore

State

State Parks and Natural Areas	Abilene Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area Atlanta Balmorhea Barton Warnock Visitor Center Bastrop Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Big Bend Ranch Big Spring Blanco Bonham Brazos Bend Buescher Caddo Lake Caprock Canyons Cedar Hill Chinati Mountains State Natural Area Choke Canyon Cleburne Colorado Bend Cooper Lake Copper Breaks Daingerfield Davis Hill Davis Mountains Devils River State Natural Area Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area Dinosaur Valley Eisenhower Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Estero Llano Grande Fairfield Lake Falcon Fort Boggy Fort Parker State Park Fort Richardson State Park Franklin Mountains Galveston Island Garner Goliad Goose Island Government Canyon State Natural Area Guadalupe River Hill Country State Natural Area Honey Creek State Natural Area Huntsville Indian Lodge Inks Lake Kickapoo Cavern Lake Arrowhead Lake Bob Sandlin Lake Brownwood Lake Casa Blanca International Lake Colorado City Lake Corpus Christi Lake Livingston Lake Mineral Wells Lake Somerville Lake Tawakoni Lake Whitney Lockhart Longhorn Cavern Lost Maples State Natural Area Martin Creek Lake Martin Dies Jr. Matagorda Island McKinney Falls McKinney Roughs Meridian Mission Tejas Monahans Sandhills Mother Neff State Park Mustang Island Old Tunnel Palmetto Palo Duro Canyon Palo Pinto Mountains Pedernales Falls Possum Kingdom Purtis Creek Ray Roberts Lake Resaca de la Palma San Angelo Sea Rim Sheldon Lake South Llano River Stephen F. Austin Tyler Village Creek Walter Umphrey Wyler Aerial Tramway
State Historic Sites	Acton Admiral Nimitz Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos Battleship TEXAS Caddo Mounds Casa Navarro Confederate Reunion Grounds Eisenhower Birthplace Fanthorp Inn Fannin Battleground Fort Griffin Fort Lancaster Fort Leaton Fort McKavett Fort Richardson State Park Fulton Mansion Goliad Hueco Tanks Kreische Brewery Landmark Inn Levi Jordan Plantation Lipantitlan Lyndon B. Johnson Magoffin Homestead Mission Espiritu Santo Mission Rosario Monument Hill Penn Farm Point Isabel Lighthouse Sabine Pass Battleground Sam Bell Maxey House Samuel T. Rayburn House San Felipe San Jacinto Battleground Sauer-Beckmann Farm Seminole Canyon Starr Family Home Varner–Hogg Plantation Washington-on-the-Brazos Zaragoza Birthplace
State Forests and Arboretums	E.O. Siecke I.D. Fairchild John Henry Kirby Masterson W. Goodrich Jones Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum Olive Scott Petty Arboretum
State Wildlife Trails	Great Texas Coastal Heart of Texas Panhandle Plains Prairies and Pineywoods

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Protected areas of Oklahoma

Federal

National Historic Sites	Fort Smith Washita Battlefield
National Forests	Ouachita
National Recreation Areas	Chickasaw
USFS National Recreation Areas	Winding Stair Mountain
National Scenic Areas	Beech Creek
National Grasslands	Black Kettle Rita Blanca
National Memorials	Oklahoma City
National Wildlife Refuges	Deep Fork Little River Optima Ozark Plateau Salt Plains Sequoyah Tishomingo Washita Wichita Mountains

State

State Parks	Alabaster Caverns Arrowhead Beavers Bend Black Mesa Boiling Springs Cherokee Landing Clayton Lake Fort Cobb Foss Gloss Mountain Great Plains Great Salt Plains Greenleaf Keystone Lake Eufaula Lake Murray Lake Texoma Lake Thunderbird Lake Wister Little Sahara McGee Creek Natural Falls Osage Hills Quartz Mountain Raymond Gary Robbers Cave Roman Nose Sequoyah Sequoyah Bay Talimena Tenkiller
Grand Lake State Park areas	Bernice Cherokee Disney/Little Blue Honey Creek Spavinaw Twin Bridges
Wildlife Management Areas	Altus-Lugert Arbuckle Springs Atoka Thomas A. Bamberger Sr. Barren Fork Beaver River Beaver River - McFarland Unit Blue River Broken Bow Hal and Fern Cooper Honobia Creek McCurtain County Pine Creek Pushmataha
Other	Arcadia Conservation Education Area Atoka Public Hunting Area Black Mesa Nature Preserve Hugo Lake
Oklahoma Historical Society	Cabin Creek Battlefield Fort Gibson Historic Site Fort Supply Historic Site Fort Towson Historic Site Honey Springs Battlefield Hunter’s Home Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center White Hair Memorial Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch
Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office	Manages land for revenue to fund schools

Local

Former state parks	Adair Park Beaver Dunes Park Boggy Depot Park (Choctaw Nation) Brushy Lake Park Crowder Lake University Park Dripping Springs Park Heavener Runestone Park Lake Eucha Park Okmulgee Park Red Rock Canyon Adventure Snowdale (closed) Wah-Sha-She Park Walnut Creek (closed)

v t e National Grasslands of the United States
Black Kettle Buffalo Gap Butte Valley Caddo Cedar River Cimarron Comanche Crooked River Curlew Fort Pierre Grand River Kiowa Little Missouri Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Oglala Pawnee Rita Blanca Sheyenne Thunder Basin Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
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