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.
History
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, the Indian leader killed in that attack. The area became part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian reservation in 1867 and was opened to White settlement in 1892. Farmers enjoyed many years of good crops, 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. Today, the grassland is used for recreation, oil and gas production, and cattle grazing.
Recreation
There are three developed recreation areas in Oklahoma and one in Texas. Dead Warrior Lake is in size and is north of Cheyenne. Spring Creek Lake is north of Cheyenne and is 50 acres in size. Sixty-acre Skipout Lake is west of Cheyenne. A hiking trail circles the lake. Lake Marvin in Texas is 63 acres 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. Croton Creek Watchable Wildlife Area, about west of Cheyenne has two trail loops totaling. The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site is located just west of Cheyenne and offers a walking trail, a visitors center, and a panoramic view of the Battlefield and the National Grassland. 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, of mixed grass prairie, forested river bottomland, and colorful red sand hills. Hunting for white-tailed deer, quail, and turkey is popular. Near Packsaddle is the Nature Conservancy's Four Canyon Preserve, 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. Grasslands are believed to be the most endangered ecosystem in North America. The National Grassland, Packsaddle, and Four Canyon preserve a significant remnant of mixed grass prairie and free-flowing prairie river.
