Fort Gibson, army post, commemorates bicentennial. What was the role of frontier soldiers?

Oklahoma commemorates two military bicentennials this year, which might sound odd for a state just 117 years old. Oklahoma was still Indian Territory when Fort Gibson and Fort Towson were founded in 1824 on the U.S. frontier during westward expansion.

• Fort Gibson, now the state-run Fort Gibson Historic Site, 907 N Garrison Ave. in the town of Fort Gibson, is 150 miles east of Oklahoma City, 55 miles southeast of Tulsa, in Muskogee and Cherokee counties. It was the farthest west of any U.S. military installation at the time. It is a National Historic Landmark.

• The Fort Gibson 200th Anniversary Commemoration will be Saturday, April 20.

• Fort Towson, now the Fort Towson Historic Site, 896 N 4375 Road in the town of Fort Towson, is 215 miles southeast of OKC, 175 miles south of Tulsa, in Choctaw County.

• The Fort Towson 200th Anniversary Commemoration will be Saturday, May 18.

Following is information about the Fort Gibson commemoration, as well some history about the post and facts about the historic site,, from the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Fort Towson information to come later.

Events commemorating the bicentennial of Fort Gibson, in Oklahoma

Here are events on Saturday at Fort Gibson.

• 10 a.m.: The town of Fort Gibson will mark the anniversary with a parade ending at the historic site.

• 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Opening ceremonies including speeches from state legislators and other dignitaries.

• 12:30 to 5 p.m.: Visitors can learn about life at the outpost at several living history and education stations across the 80-acre historic site, including 1830s soldier life, military disciplinary measures, hunter and trapper watercraft, 18th-century keel boats, 19th-century gardening, encampments, cooking demonstrations, women in the military, the work of laundresses, and traveling merchants.

• Also: Operations of the outpost’s bakehouse, sutler store, 19th-century photography, roping demonstrations, chuck wagon cooks, land surveying, and artillery drills and safety.

• For more information, call (918) 478-4088.

RELATED: Why 19th-century New York writer Washington Irving's name is on so many things in Oklahoma

Highlights of the history of 200-year-old Fort Gibson, in Oklahoma

Here are high points of Fort Gibson history.

• "Fort Gibson served a pivotal role in the political, social, and economic upheaval that marked the westward expansion of the United States."

• "Built at the critical crossroads of the Three Forks where the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand Rivers converge south of the Ozark Plateau, Fort Gibson was key to river navigation. It also served as an outpost on the Texas Road connecting settled Missouri with the new country of Mexico after its independence from Spain in 1820."

• "Fort Gibson was established in 1824 to keep the peace between the Osages and Cherokees. It figured prominently in the Indian removals and was home to many of our nation’s leaders during the 1840s and 1850s. Fort Gibson served as a starting point for several military expeditions that explored the West."

• "It was occupied through most of the Indian removal period, but then abandoned in 1857. The post was reactivated during the Civil War. It was renamed Fort Blunt and served as the Union headquarters in Indian Territory. The army stayed through the Reconstruction and Indian Wars periods, combating the problem of outlaws and squatters."

• "Abandoned in 1890, the fort was later the headquarters of the Dawes Commission for their work enrolling members of the Five Tribes. At Fort Gibson, the Commission members focused their attention on Cherokee Freedmen."

What to see and do at the Fort Gibson Historic Site in Oklahoma

Here are some of the attractions at the Fort Gibson Historic Site.

• A reconstruction of the early log fort and stockade, as well as original buildings from the 1840s to 1870.

• Exhibits on the fort’s history in the Commissary Visitor Center on Garrison Hill.

• Special living history events, Bake Days using the historic bakehouse, and educational programs throughout the year.

• "The site features a log stockade reconstructed under the Works Progress Administration in 1937. The structure underwent extensive restoration beginning in 2013 and reopened to the public in 2016. Fort Gibson is a National Historic Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places."

Sign Up: Weekly newsletter Real Estate with Richard Mize

Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma's Fort Gibson army post, historic site observe bicentennial