Fort Gibson National Cemetery is a

United States National Cemetery The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...

located inside of the town of

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

, in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. It encompasses , and as of 2021 had more than 25,000 interments.

History

Fort Gibson was established in 1833, on a plot of land within the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

nation. It is at what is considered to be the end of the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

. Frontier life was hard,

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

was common, and at least three separate cemeteries were created between 1833 and 1857 when the Fort was abandoned. In 1863 the Fort was remanned by Brigadier General James G. Blunt. In 1868 the National Cemetery was established in a plot, and all of the nearby cemeteries had their interments transferred to it. This included the remains of many civilians. Fort Gibson National Cemetery was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 20, 1999.

Noteworthy monuments

* A

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

to Corporal John Haddo,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient for action in

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

who is buried in a mass grave in

Custer National Cemetery George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

Notable interments

recipients ** John Haddoo (1851–1877), Indian Wars (

) ** First Lieutenant Jack C. Montgomery (1917–2002), recipient for action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

** Private First Class John N. Reese Jr. (1923–1945), recipient for action in

* Others ** Captain Sonuk Mikko (Billy Bowlegs) (c. 1810–1859),

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

who fought for the Union in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Paul "Buddy" Burris Paul "Buddy" Burris (January 20, 1923 – November 26, 2007) was an American football player. He played college football for the Golden Hurricane at University of Tulsa, and after a hiatus to serve in the Second World War, for the Sooners at t ...

(1923–2007), professional football player **

Joel Elliott Joel H. Elliott (October 27, 1840 – November 27, 1868) was a Union major during and after the Civil War. Joining as a private in August 1861, with Company C, 2nd Indiana Cavalry Regiment. He saw action at the Battle of Shiloh, Battle of Perr ...

(1840–1868), Civil War soldier and officer ** Benjamin Paddock (1926–1998), FBI 10-most wanted criminal in the 1960s, father of

Stephen Paddock Stephen Craig Paddock (April 9, 1953 – October 1, 2017) was an American mass murderer who perpetrated the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Paddock opened fire into a crowd of about 22,000 concertgoers attending a country music festival on the Las ...

(1953–2017), who was responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting ** Theodore M. Risenhoover (1934–2006), United States Congressman **

Vivia Thomas Vivia Thomas is an American folk figure. The popular legend is summarized as follows: a sentry was patrolling the grounds of Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory when he discovered a trooper, young Private Thomas, lying dead across a grave in a n ...

(?–1870), figure of a local legend that she was the daughter of a wealthy

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

family, and that she was abandoned at the wedding altar by a soldier who was assigned to Fort Gibson. She disguised herself as a man so she could pass as a soldier and travelled to the Fort alone, confronted him and killed him. She later died of pneumonia that she was said to have contracted while repeatedly braving cold and harsh weather to visit his grave site.

References

External links

National Cemetery Administration

Fort Gibson National Cemetery

* * {{Authority control Cemeteries in Oklahoma Protected areas of Muskogee County, Oklahoma United States national cemeteries Indian Territory in the American Civil War

History

Noteworthy monuments

Notable interments

See also

References

External links