Cheyenne is a town in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 771. It is the county seat of Roger Mills County.
History
Cheyenne is the location of the Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita; Washita Battlefield; Washita Massacre), where George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked the sleeping Cheyenne village of Black Kettle on the Washita River on November 26, 1868.
Cheyenne has been a county seat since 1895. But construction of the nearest railroad into the area, the Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railway ("C&OW") terminated in 1912 at Strong City, and that township was laid out with a rocky knoll in the center reserved for the County Courthouse should Strong City become the county seat instead of Cheyenne. To keep their town's position, the citizens of Cheyenne responded by building the Cheyenne Short Line Railroad up the Washita River valley to Strong City to connect to the C&OW.
For their first title in 1985 Cheyenne went 29–2, including winning their final 23 games, and defeated Lookeba-Sickles, 45–42, in the championship. The following season they shot 73.0% from the field for the year, went 29–2 again, and beat Amber-Pocasset 61–49 in the championship game. In the final championship game of the three-year run, the undefeated Bears beat the 1980s best Class A team, the Thomas Terrierettes, 65–42.
B.C. Scouting Service rated Fisher as the top women's basketball recruit in the state of Oklahoma for the 1987 season and she was named an All-American honorable mention by USA Today. For the 1987 Class A Girls All-Tournament 1st Team Cheyenne had three of the six selections, forwards Jodi Fisher and Cindy Smith, and guard Cindy Hay (Thomas had two, forward Staci Litsch [scored 100 points in three state tournament games and is Kelli's little sister] and guard Deena Garner; Johnna Ellis, of Tupelo received the other selection).
Fisher went on to play for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls where she tied a school record for career games played with 124 (with Lisa McGill and Liz Brown), she also set the OSU record for field-goal percentage in a season with 61.3% in the 1990–91 season. She left OSU ranked second in block shots (77), number eight on the all-time rebound list (525), 16th in field goals made with 334, collected 113 career steals from 1987 to 1991 (18th), 20th in career assists (150), and 823 career points (20th on the school's all-time scoring list). She tied a school record for rebounds by an individual in an NCAA Tournament game with 12 against DePaul in the opening round game in 1991. On January 24, 1990, Fisher scored 23 points in a 99–94 win over the Oklahoma Sooners. She was on the 1991 OSU team that made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, the first OSU team to make it that far, and averaged 10.9 points a game that season.
2010–2013 Cheyenne Bears
The Bears also made a historic run as area champions and state qualifiers in men's basketball from 2010 to 2013, winning a state championship in 2012 and state runner-up in 2011.
Geography
Cheyenne is located just south of the Washita River, approximately north of Sayre. The town is in Southwestern Oklahoma, known for Oklahoma Tourism purposes as Great Plains Country.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Distances
- north of Altus
- east of Amarillo
- northwest of Elk City
- west of Oklahoma City
- south of Woodward
Transportation
Cheyenne is on U.S. Route 283 and Oklahoma State Highway 47.
Cheyenne is served by Mignon Laird Municipal Airport (FAA Identifier: 93F). It is located two miles west of town, and has a 4022 x 60 ft. paved runway.
While Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport is 6 miles closer, more commercial airline connections are available at the larger Will Rogers World Airport, 142 miles to the east.
Attractions
Cheyenne has a City Park and Museum Complex, with six museums in the complex. These include the Pioneer Museum, the One Room School, the Minnie Slief Community Museum and Veterans Display, the Santa Fe Depot, the chapel, and the Kendall House Log Cabin. All museums are free.
The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site is west of town. and the Black Kettle Recreation Area on Hwy 47 outside Cheyenne includes tent camping areas, hiking trails, picnic areas, a lake with a boat ramp for no-wake boating and fishing, and nature trails and viewing.
Foss State Park on Foss Reservoir is about 33 miles east-southeast.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Cheyenne had a population of 771. The median age was 37.0 years. 29.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.9 males age 18 and over.
There were 303 households in Cheyenne, of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.9% were married-couple households, 18.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 643 || 83.4%
|-
| Black or African American || 4 || 0.5%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 16 || 2.1%
|-
| Asian || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.1%
|-
| Some other race || 26 || 3.4%
|-
| Two or more races || 81 || 10.5%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 107 || 13.9%
|}
2000 census
As of the census
Notable people
- Frank Lucas (born 1960), U.S. representative for Oklahoma
References
External links
- Museums/Historic Sites - at RogerMills.org
- Washita Battlefield site - at the National Park Service
- The Cheyenne Star (local newspaper)
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Cheyenne