Salina has the unique designation of being Oklahoma’s oldest continuously inhabited European city. The town can trace its roots back to the French fur trade of the late 1700’s. The French fur trade centered around the Mississippi river and its tributaries. In the early days, traders would travel down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where […]
Tag: People
Shamrock, Oklahoma And The Legend Of The American Blarney Stone
Just south of Drumright, Oklahoma lies an almost abandoned ghost town bathed in Irish heritage. The town could have been named Ardmore, or Prairie View, but the few early settlers that lived there settled on Shamrock, Oklahoma. This wasn’t the first time the town founder established a town named Shamrock. Back in Illinois, he started […]
Oklahoma’s Immigrants – Hidden Immigration History in Oklahoma
In the early 1900’s, European migration into Oklahoma was in full swing. During statehood, most of Oklahoma’s history focuses on Indian Territory and Native America, but there is a chapter that is often overlooked. Oklahoma’s Immigrant Story Immigration into the United States reached an all time high in 1907, the same year that Oklahoma was […]
The Golden Age of Prehistory: The Plains Village Farmers
Oklahoma entered into a golden age around 800 A.D., where civilization thrived and prehistoric empires divided East from West. To the east was the Caddoan empire, consisting of the Mississippian River Valley culture centered around Spiro Mounds in Eastern Oklahoma. To the west were small villages that dotted the landscape, forming a strong but loose […]
Bob Wills and the Light Crust Doughboys: A Tale of an Iconic Oklahoma Musician
Life took him back to Tulsa, but the journey that Bob Wills took to get there was unique. During the 1930’s, radio was huge. It was also hugely expensive. Early on, Bob Wills and his band started to get a big following in Texas. Looking to expand into radio, and reach a bigger audience, they […]
The Strange Tale of Elmer McCurdy, a Bungling Oklahoma Outlaw
For sixty-six years, Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy traveled the United States quite a bit less than alive. In fact, Elmer McCurdy wasn’t laid to rest until 1977, even though he died in 1911 at the age of 31. Elmer was a charming devil, although not a very bright one. He was born in Maine to […]
Poteau’s Origins: The First White Settlers
The Early Years Nearly a decade after the final shot was fired during the Civil War, westward expansion was in full gallop. Many people fled from homes that had been ravaged by the American Civil War and headed west towards the untamed wilds in search for a new start. Many of these early settlers passed […]
From Irish Famine to Oklahoma Fame: The Story of Frank Murray
Young Frank was only twenty-five years old when he came to the United States. It was 1850. The Great Hunger spread across Northern Ireland like a plague. It would be two more years before the Irish Potato Famine ended. Frank Murray should have been immune. His family was well off, being part of the landed […]
How the American Civil War Affected the Choctaw Nation
The Effects of the Civil War The American Civil War (1861–1865) took more American lives than any other war in American history. It so divided the people of the United States that in some families, brother literally fought against brother. In Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, the four years that the United States was embroiled in the Civil […]
Oklahoma Skate parks: Poteau’s Skatepark on Broadway
In Oklahoma, Skateboarding is alive and well. There are skateparks spread all across the state, from the massive Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park of Oklahoma City to the hundreds of community skateparks found in almost every major town and city. Skateparks, in general, have a relatively short history. The first skateboards from the 1950s were […]