A Brief History

This historic home was built in 1867 as the commanding officers residence, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The three story home was part of the Fort Gibson Fort established in Indian Territory in 1824. As stated on the cornerstone on the East side of the house it was built by U.S. Captain  A.S.Kimbell.  For 23 years, it sheltered Colonels, Captains, and Majors who commanded in the last years of Fort Gibson.  In the summer of 1890 the government abandoned the fort, but troops would occasionally camp at the site when unrest required their presence in the area.  The house then sold and became private residence for Major John Joseph Coppinger, who was the commander at the garrison at Fort Gibson.  After Coppinger left, General William Babcock Hazen lived in the house with his family.  Then in the early 1900’s the house was then owned by Dr. John Otto Rogers and his wife Cora.  John was the cousin of the famous Will Rogers.  In 1924 the house was purchased by Claude W. Garrett, a local attorney, who later became a judge.  Upon his death in 1979 the house became a museum open to the public for tours.  The house has undergone some changes along the years with a kitchen added in the basement possibly in the 1940’s and the front porch was replaced by ornamental metal columns when owned by the Garrett family.  There are also 2 full bathrooms, but I’m not sure when those were added, and then more recently a more modern kitchen on the main living floor. 

 Because no battles or massacres occurred at or near the post, Fort Gibson never earned the reputation some frontier forts achieved, but for over half a century it accomplished its mission of maintaining the peace. At the height of Indian removal, it had the largest garrison in the nation, and many notable Americans served there or passed through, including Stephen Watts Kearny, Robert E. Lee, Henry Leavenworth, Jefferson Davis, and Zachary Taylor, the 12^th president of the United States.  Some of these famous men of history are have said to possibly visited the house.

I have found a lot of information online from various sources and tried to piece together this brief summary of the history of the house but wanted to share this link http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~texlance/misc/fortgibson.htm which does a nice job telling the history of the fort and mentions the house as being “one of the best preserved relics of the old fort”.  There is also a ton of information on this website http://www.oldhousedreams.com/2012/03/08/1867-greek-revival-fort-gibson-ok-149900/#comment-28453 where the house was once listed for sale.