In 1834 the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition left Fort Gibson and passed through present Stephens County to treat with the Plains Indians. From Fort Arbuckle Capt. Randolph B. Marcy passed through the future county in 1852 when he led an expedition to locate the source of the Red River.  In 1818 the Quapaw ceded to the United States the area between the Canadian and Red rivers. This region became home to the Choctaw and Chickasaw, who were removed from southeastern United States in the 1820s and 1830s. Forts Washita and Arbuckle were established in 1842 and 1850, respectively, to provide protection to the Chickasaw from marauding Plains tribes and unscrupulous whites. Although no significant Civil War battles occurred in the Chickasaw Nation, the ravages of war destroyed property and livestock. Because the Chickasaw and other Five Civilized Tribes supported the Confederacy, they lost their western lands as part of the conditions of the Reconstruction Treaties negotiated in 1866. The area west of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations known as the Leased District was ceded to the United States. Reservations were established in the Leased District for the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache in 1867, the Wichita and Caddo in 1868, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho in 1869.