Fort Reno Post Cemetery

Historical. Beautiful. Tragic and sad. The lands are stunning!!

Wreaths Across America ceremony, Fort Reno, December 2020
The post cemetery rests on a hill, overlooking the fort to the east. You enter the fort and follow signs to the cemetery.
Rock fence surrounds the final resting place for these pioneers. About 80 soldiers and scouts from the old west are buried there. Other graves are those of military families, workers at the fort, and a few bodies found on the open range.
On the west end, beyond a dividing wall, rest German and Italian POWs who died during their incarceration from WWll.

A very quiet and peaceful place (despite the wind) in the middle of nowhere. The loneliness of the place leaves room to think about live and war.

My grandfather, Capt. Erwin Potts, was stationed here during WWI. It was a training depot for the supply mules used to carry supplies during WWI. My father, Arthur Potts, was a kid during this time. He worked at the fort by driving a horse drawn flat bed wagon used to take hay out to the cattle in the fields around the post. The post also had the first concrete swimming pool in the area. The kids from the town of El Reno used to try to get in the fort to go swimming. One of the first commanding officers of the fort during the Indian Wars was Phill Sherman of Civil War fame. The cabin he used during his command is now in the town of El Reno. A few stories from my family about this place.

Incredibly peaceful, we'll maintained. I was very surprised that the WW2 POW's were buried separately, but I suppose it makes sense.