President Theodore Roosevelt

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

The Brooklyn Zoo

Quanah Parker

The Buffalo Train Ride

Theodore was a writer and a historian.  He explored the wild country.  He hunted big game.  He fought as a soldier, and he fought to save wild animals.  He ran a large ranch, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize.  He was the 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. 

Theodore loved wild animals.  He came to visit friends in Lawton.  He hunted wolves with Chief Quanah Parker in the Wichita Mountains there. Many tribes once hunted there.  These mountains were full buffalo, elk, and deer.  Turkey, rabbits and quail were everywhere. Comanche, Kiowa, Wico and Pawnee Pact Indians lived and loved there.  They fought and died there. 

Things changed when the white men came.  The buffalo hunters killed millions of buffalo.  General Sheridan killed the last elk left.  The Indians were put on reservations.  The wildlife was almost gone. Theodore knew that something had to be done. 

Quanah Parker asked his friend Theodore to set aside land.  The land would be a refuge.  A wildlife refuge is a safe place for animals.  Many people in Lawton signed petitions asking for the same thing. 

In 1905, Roosevelt set aside the mountains as a game preserve.  This was the very first wildlife refuge in this country. The U.S. Forest Service took care of the land.  Congress spent $15,00 to build a fence.  The fence ran around 8,000 acres of short grass prairie. 

The Brooklyn Zoo had a herd of buffalo.  The New York Zoological Society and the American Bison Society helped.  Fifteen buffalo were brought to Lawton.  The buffalo rode the train all the way from New York to Lawton.  They were not happy living in crates on the train.  They pawed and stamped.  One bull broke through his crate! 

In October 1907, Quanah Parker and his people dressed up in their finest clothes.  They met the train.  They saw crates full of buffalo.  Quanah Parker was so moved that he cried.  The buffalo were sacred to his people.  They had come home. The elk, antelope and wild turkey had to be restored, too.  The deer in far away parts of the refuge began to flourish.  No one shot at them any more. 

Today, this 59,020-acre refuge is home to longhorn cattle, bobwhites, and migratory birds.  Many species of smaller animals and birds live here, too.  Thanks to Theodore, we can go to the Wichita Mountains and enjoy many kinds of wildlife today.  Our job is to make sure we take care of the refuge.  Other people will want to enjoy it in the future.