Tar Pit & Geronimo’s Bluff
Ft. Sill, Oklahoma
Monday, May 21, 2018
Clear, 96°
Note* I am several days behind posting due to no internet in some of the places traveled. Where I am presently, there is no internet for miles due to a large wildfire which took down several towers. Making a post with the pictures eats up to much of my cell service (if I have it) so I am posting when I can so bear with me until I catch up.
“I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” – Carew Papritz
This find was definitely on a road less traveled. The Army Post at Ft. Sill, like many posts, has a few secrets that are not usually advertised in any of their literature. Among the many interesting things found here, there are two to look for while in this area. There is limited information on the two sites, so here is what I found.
Historic Site Tar Pit sign
There is a prehistoric tar pit on one of the artillery ranges. Since there is only a small sign and marker noting its existence, it can easily be missed.
Tar Pit sign
I learned the tar pit (also called an asphalt lake -- which sounds so much cooler) dates back to the Permian Age (about 280 million years ago). The tar most likely seeps up to the surface along a fault line where it creates fossils and stains the ground and rocks in the area.
Tar pit
It was discovered by Capt. Randolph Marcy in 1852, who said early Native Americans used the tar as glue and to treat the sore backs of horses. Apparently, someone tried to drain it with an 8-foot trench that didn't work, as it is still there collecting tar that slowly oozes down the hillside.
Oozing tar
The small “pond” is surrounded by tall grasses and smells like fresh asphalt.
I was hoping to see some fossils or other stained rocks but the area had been picked clean although signs were posted prohibiting removal of any artifacts and vandalizing the area.
Tar on ground
Medicine Bluff, on Fort Sill, Oklahoma, is a steep cliff that has come to be known as Geronimo's Bluff. Tall tales were told about Geronimo while at Fort Sill. While a prisoner at Ft. Sill, Geronimo led many escapes. It was said that one day Geronimo, with the army in hot pursuit, made a leap on horseback down an almost vertical cliff into the water, a feat that the posse could not duplicate. According to the legend, in the midst of this jump to freedom he gave out the bloodcurdling cry of “Geronimo-o-o”. We went to see Geronimo’s Guardhouse, but were disappointed, not only because it was closed for renovations, but there was no mention of him on the signage. The sign mentioned that the building had been used to imprison Apache warriors during the Indian-American War. Geronimo died a prisoner at Fort Sill and is buried in the Apache prisoner of war cemetery on post.
Geronimo’s Bluff
This is Memorial Day so a stop at the post cemetery is in order to view the headstones of the fallen and their families.
Flagged Headstones in Cemetery
Fact or fiction, it is another story while Traveling Life’s Highways in Oklahoma.