The building trembled as the massive Pentaceratops shook its bony head, nearly knocking the three-thousand-year-old chalice to the floor. Across the hall, deer scurried back into the woods as a great multitude of birds took flight. A youthful-looking woman of the pre-Clovis culture was thrown to the floor; her face wore the masked image of […]
Category: History
Historical stories and facts
The Great Cattle Drives: Frontier life in Oklahoma 1866-1889
The terrain was treacherous, the heat unbearable, and the pay was paltry. Still, through the wild frontier of Indian Territory, these spirited cowboys braved disaster and desolation in search of the American dream. Many of these cowboys were born from one of the worst wars this country has ever fought. The Civil War had left […]
Peter Conser: Tragedy and Triumph — A Tale of the Indian Territories
Indian Territories In the years following the terrible “Trail of Tears,” and before Oklahoma gained statehood, the Indian Territories remained wild and rugged. In southeastern Oklahoma, in what was once the Choctaw Nation, there lived a man who would come to define what it meant to be victorious over an unforgiving frontier. Early Life of […]
Scouting History in Oklahoma: A Brief History of the Boy Scouts in Oklahoma
The Birth of the Boy Scouts: An Oklahoman Odyssey Boy scout. That phrase automatically conjures up images of khaki and tan uniforms, of courageous young men, and of humble and loyal traditions. Like our forefathers before us, these young men seek to explore the world through high adventure and constant learning. They yearn for knowledge, […]
Pioneer Life: Sod Homes on the Prairies
Oklahoma Settlement Begins Overburdened wagon trains lined the border between Kansas and Indian Territory on a warm spring day in April 1889. Excitement coursed through the crowd as they waited in eager anticipation. They had come in droves from all walks of life; there were doctors, lawyers, dentists, shopkeepers, farmers, and even the occasional ruffian. […]
The Washita Battlefield National Historic Site: Ghosts of the Cheyenne
On a bitterly cold night in November of 1868, more than one hundred Indians lie in tangled heaps of death across a frozen battlefield. One could not discriminate between the dead men, women, and children that lie on the plains; the white man’s army cared not for such things. This is the story of the Washita […]
A History of Woolaroc: Frank Phillips’s Ranch on the Range
Woolaroc Ranch was a haven not only for Frank Phillips but also for bandits, outlaws, and other breeds of notorious criminals. Though it has since become something very different, at one time, the Woolaroc Ranch was a thriving retreat for those famous enough to get invited. Over the 25 years that Frank Phillips lived here, […]
Oklahoma Treasure: The Miners Loot at Black Dog Trail Crossing
“Boys I believe I have found a gold mine!” All it took was these simple words to set in motion a global cascade of events that forever changed the American West. It was in 1848 when an obscure New Jersey carpenter and mechanic named James W. Marshall uttered these words. By 1849, gold passion was […]
Judge Isaac Parker: The Hanging Judge of Indian Territory
Post-Civil War Lawlessness He was only one man, but this one man wielded his power like a razor-sharp sword. It had been ten years since the end of the American Civil War. Ten years for lawlessness to spread across Indian Territory like an inferno. The territory had been set aside in 1834 as a refuge […]
The Submarine Killer: USS Batfish in Muskogee, Oklahoma
U.S.S. Batfish: January 19, 1944 The submarine rode in the water like a mechanical bull, creaking and groaning as she made her way across the southern Pacific. It had been two years since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when the U.S.S. Batfish began her first war patrol. Heavy seas and malfunctions plagued the sub during the […]