Historical Marker Program

Battle of the Washita

Roger Mills County
Location: in downtown Cheyenne one block south of US-283 and OK-47 intersection
Material: Granite
Topics: American Indians; Military; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

On November 27, 1868, Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Cavalry in an attack on Chief Black Kettle's camp on the Washita River. The surprise, early-morning attack decimated the Cheyenne camp and no doubt was the seed for Custer's later meeting with American Indians at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Berlin

Roger Mills County
Location: on E1080 Rd approximately 2 miles west of US-283
Coordinates: 35.450837, -99.624696
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Berlin Extension Homemakers
Topics: Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Originally known as Doxey, a post office was established in the vicinity in January 1894. Post office name changed to Berlin in September 1896. Named for Berlin, Germany, the town name is pronounced locally as “BUR-lin” because of anti-German sentiment during World War I. Berlin’s post office and school closed in 1967. Marker is dedicated to the settlers who persevered through “drought, flood, sickness, debt, and a multitude of other misfortunes” to establish the community.

California Road

Roger Mills County
Location: at junction of US-283 and OK-33, 14 miles north of Cheyenne
Coordinates: 35.797609, -99.723281
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Military; Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

In April 1849 Capt. Randolph Marcy, commander of Fort Towson, received orders to escort the Fort Smith and California Emigrating Company through Indian Territory. The expedition departed from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and generally followed the Canadian River, past towns and trading centers as well as geographic features such as the Antelope Hills located northwest of this marker. Although the company asked for a military escort to California, Marcy’s detachment accompanied them as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico, before returning to Fort Smith via a southern route through Texas and Indian Territory that was later utilized by the Butterfield Overland Mail.

Sandstone Creek Area

Roger Mills County
Location: on US-283, ten miles south of Cheyenne
Coordinates: 35.467870, -99.657888
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Industrial Period, 1941–1982; Water

This marker commemorates the Sandstone Creek Watershed project, the world’s first upstream flood prevention project. Competed in 1953, the project involved the construction of over twenty dams in a watershed that spans more than 68,000 acres.