Chief Stumbling Bear Pass

Lawton, OK 73507, USA
GPS Coordinates: 34.807251, -98.524491

Directions: From Apache, OK, Caddo County, take OK 19 west 11 miles to OK 58 turn left on to OK 58 south 6.8 miles. sign is on the left.

This historical marker depicts Chief Stumbling Bear as setting up the first permanent settlement for the Plains tribes on Canyon Creek southwest of the markers location in 1867. Housing was build by the government in 1877.

This marker was not one of the original from Oklahoma House Bill 267 (1949). This marker was selected during the 1967 session. It still maintains the original design with the Oklahoma Native American shield at the top. It sits atop a very tall pole and unfortunately has been used as target practice on numerous occasions.

The plaque reads as follows:
CHIEF STUMBLING BEAR PASS
Kiowa Chief Stumbling Bear who signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty, 1867 founded the first permanent settlement of Plains tribes, on Canyon Creek, southwest of here. First government built houses for Indians were erected in the settlement 1877.
Oklahoma Historical Society and State Highway Commission 1967.

Stumbling Bear became an influential war chief by leading raids against the Sac and Fox, Pawnee, and Navajo and white settlers in his youth. In November 1864 at the Battle of Adobe Walls, Chief Stumbling Bear fought U.S. forces led by Kit Carson. He was a hero to his people and wore his daughter's shawl for good luck. The shawl was pierced with a dozen bullets but Stumbling Bear was not wounded.

After signing the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867, he became an ardent advocate of peace with the whites. He was in the delegation of Kiowa chiefs who traveled to Washington D.C. to seek peace. As a result of his actions for peace, the federal government built a home for Chief Stumbling Bear. This became part of the first permanent settlement of the Plains tribes.

(An aside note: A short walk just north of the hide will find you in a road cut through Cambrian period exposed Fort Sill Limestone that is the lower part of 5000-7000 foot thick layer of limestone that covered much of the eastern U.S. 500 million years ago. It once completely covered the crystalline basement of the Wichita Mountains but has since eroded away except for sites like this and Signal Mountain and McKenzie Hill on Fort Sill. The strange parallel lines of exposed rock visible on the hillsides east of the cache are known as tombstone formations.)

Sources:
* Latham, K. (n.d.). Exploring Oklahoma History / Chief Stumbling Bear Pass. [online] Exploring Oklahoma History. Available at: blogoklahoma.us [Accessed 31 Jan. 2019].
* TheRadcliffs (2015). Chief Stumbling Bear Pass - Oklahoma Historical Markers on Waymarking.com. [online] Waymarking.com. Available at: www.waymarking.com [Accessed 31 Jan. 2019].