Fort Gibson Candlelight Tour Features Special Programs on Black History of the Period

Contact: Chris Morgan
(918) 478-4088

Oklahoma City, OK
December 12, 2008
For Immediate Release

The 2008 edition of the Candlelight Tour of Fort Gibson Historic Site is set for December 12th and 13th.

The theme for this year's tour is "Moving On." Transience was a major fact of life for everyone at the post. Officer and soldiers and their dependents usually had to change duty stations every two or three years. Occasionally entire Army posts were moved when the situation required. Other people had reasons to keep moving too. Enlisted men often deserted before their five-year term of military service ended; criminal fugitives from other parts of the nation hid in the Indian Territory; slaves often attempted to escape. "Moving On" examines these issues and how they might have affected people at or living near the fort.

A special part of the tour will feature two scenes in the program explaining a little known part of the Black history of this area. One scene tells the story of the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves prior to the Civil War find freedom in Kansas. Another scene in the tour will tell the story of the Black Seminoles who came to the territory along with the Indian tribes.

This special program was developed by volunteers from Muskogee including Lansing Lee, Director of the Martin Luther King Center; Reverend Michael Webber, Pastor, Divine Love Christian Fellowship; Reverend Aundrea Jones, Pastor, Old Agency Baptist Church; Tobi Ledbetter; and Melbelene Leach.

Tours begin at 6:30 p.m. and continue every fifteen minutes until the program ends at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $7 and reservations are required.

Fort Gibson Historic Site is located at 907 North Garrison in the town of Fort Gibson. For information and to make reservations call (918) 478-4088.