Washita Battlefield National Historic Site


This historic site is located a couple hours west of Oklahoma City where we were staying throughout our son's adoption process. He is only 2 weeks only in these photos (with the tiniest legs imaginable). Since there are only a couple of parks in the state of OK, we made it a priority to get out to visit them.

This park’s main draw is really the park film they show in the visitor center that tells the story of the Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle. This half hour video really depicts a dark time in American History which is something they didn’t really teach us back in junior high.

This park is located on a battlefield where back in 1868, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer led a surprise attack on a peaceful Indian Tribe, killing Chief Black Kettle and a majority of his tribe. This was a huge turning point in history which led to the Native American tribes to be forced on to reservations here in Oklahoma.

While the scenery here is stunning and the park very well put together, it is a very solemn place once you know the history.

I do wish we had been a more prepared the day we went. We would have liked to hike the trail head but we didn’t bring the right shoes, extra water, etc. At the time we were used to a lot of the historical parks back in the Northeast, where there aren’t a lot of walk-able/hike-able areas so we weren't as prepared as we would have liked.


Learn more about Washita Battlefield National Historic Site: https://www.nps.gov/waba/index.htm