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 […]
Tag: Stories
Oklahoma’s Historic Roads: U.S. 69 And The Texas Road
What began as a minor French fur trading trail became one of Oklahoma’s north/south transportation routes. Around 1802, the French Chouteau brothers, Pierre and Auguste from St. Louis established a flourishing trading post centered in the Three Forks area, near modern Muskogee. Furs purchased from the Osage would be sent along the Arkansas river to […]
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 […]
Rise of the Buffalo: How Oklahoma Helped Save the American Bison
By 1889, it was estimated that there were less than 1,000 wild buffalo left. A species that once thundered across the land had been hunted to near extinction. At one time, there were as many as sixty-million roaming throughout the Great Plains. Wanting to preserve an example of the bison for the U.S. National Museum, […]
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 […]
Poteau River Flood: A Tale of Wister, Oklahoma
Historic Flooding of the Poteau River Prior to the 1946 Wister Lake Project, the Poteau River has had a history of major flooding throughout the region. Some of the earliest recorded stories go back to the mid-1800s. After the Civil War ended in 1865, southeast Oklahoma became known as “Little Dixie”. Confederate veterans flocked here […]
The Great Train Robbery of 1912 in Poteau, Oklahoma
A Bold Robbery Poteau, Oklahoma, was still a wild and rugged place even after the territory officially became a state. While this story can be repeated many times throughout Oklahoma, it really shows how rural areas were still very much stuck in the old days of the Wild, Wild West. It was a clear, chilly morning […]
3 Fascinating Tales of Buried Treasure in Oklahoma
Forgotten Treasure During the 1800s, the land that would become Oklahoma was in flux. During the early part of the century, France owned the land. Over the next 100 years, it would be part of Texas, Arkansas Territory, Indian Territory, and Oklahoma Territory. Because of this constant shifting, the future state was largely ignored until […]