Oklahoma's Historic Sites
Oklahoma is home to a diverse array of historic sites that reflect the state's rich cultural heritage and complex history. These sites include significant locations tied to Native American history, African American heritage, and the westward expansion of the United States. Notable examples include the Boley Historic District, which emerged as a center for African American self-governance during a time of segregation, and Sequoyah's Cabin, the residence of the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary.
Military history is represented at Fort Gibson and Fort Sill, which played vital roles in the interactions between the U.S. government and Native American tribes. The Guthrie Historic District showcases late 19th and early 20th-century commercial architecture, highlighting the aspirations of Oklahoma's early settlers. Additionally, sites like the Washita Battlefield serve as reminders of the complex military conflicts that shaped the region. Each of these historic sites provides insight into the various narratives that contribute to Oklahoma's identity, making them valuable destinations for those interested in understanding the state's past from multiple perspectives.
Oklahoma's Historic Sites
Boley Historic District
Location: Boley, Okfuskee County
Relevant issues: African American history
Statement of significance: Begun as a camp for African American railroad construction hands, this is the largest of the towns established in Oklahoma to provide African Americans with the opportunity for self-government in an era of white supremacy and segregation.
Camp Nichols
Location: Wheeless, Cimarron County
Relevant issues: Western expansion
Statement of significance: This camp was established by Kit Carson in 1865 to offer protection to wagon trains using the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail.
Creek National Capitol
Location: 6th Street and Grand Avenue, Okmulgee, Okmulgee County
Relevant issues: Native American history, political history
Statement of significance: This Victorian-style structure was used by the Creeks from 1878 to 1907, after their adoption of a representative form of government modeled on the United States Congress.
Fort Gibson
Location: Lee and Ash Streets, Fort Gibson, Muskogee County
Relevant issues: Native American history, Civil War, military history
Statement of significance: Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole removed from the Southeast by the government were brought here between 1824 and 1840. The fort was abandoned in 1857 and turned over to the Cherokee Nation. During the Civil War, it was reoccupied by federal forces consisting of three Cherokee Regiments, four companies of Kansas Cavalry, and Hopkins Battery. After the war, the post was garrisoned intermittently until it was abandoned as a military post in 1890 and reverted to the Cherokee Nation.
Fort Sill
Location: Fort Sill, Comanche County
Relevant issues: Native American history, military history
Statement of significance: Troops stationed here were active in campaigns against Southern Plains tribes in the late 1800s. Virtually all the original fort survives; it has expanded and continued to play a significant role for the Army in the twentieth century.
Fort Washita
Location: Nida, Bryan County
Relevant issues: Native American history, western expansion
Statement of significance: This fort was established in 1842 (reportedly by Zachary Taylor) because of treaty commitments to the Chickasaws and Choctaws and to serve as a way station for travelers on the Southern Overland Trail.
Guthrie Historic District
Location: Bounded by Oklahoma Ave. on the north, Broad St. on the east, Harrison Ave. on the south, and railroad tracks on the west (includes 301 Harrison St.), Guthrie, Logan County
Relevant issues: Western expansion
Statement of significance: Comprising the commercial core of the city of Guthrie, the historic district contains mostly two- and three-story commercial buildings made of red brick and/or sandstone constructed between 1889 and 1910. This outstanding collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial architecture displays the aspirations of the city’s founders to create a city worthy of the distinction as the first and only territorial capital of Oklahoma (1890-1907) and then as the first state capital (1907-1910). Guthrie is also significant for its association with the opening of the last frontier to non-Native American settlement and is representative of the attraction and opportunities that cities held for the thousands of settlers who chose not to make their living from the land.
101 Ranch Historic District
Location: Ponca City, Kay County
Relevant issues: African American history, cultural history
Statement of significance: This large cattle ranch was the home base of the 101 Wild West Show, which toured from 1904 to 1916 and again from 1925 to 1931. The show featured Bill Pickett, the well-known African American cowboy who invented steer wrestling and was elected to the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Sequoyah’s Cabin
Location: Akins, Sequoyah County
Relevant issues: Native American history, education, literary history
Statement of significance: This frontier house of logs was occupied (1829-1843) by Sequoyah (c. 1770-1843), the teacher who in 1821 invented a syllabary which made it possible to write and read the Cherokee language. The giant California sequoia trees are named for him.
Washita Battlefield
Location: Cheyenne, Roger Mills County
Relevant issues: Native American history, military history
Statement of significance: This was the scene of an 1868 attack by George Armstrong Custer’s troops on the village of Black Kettle, peace chief of the southern Cheyenne. It demonstrated the effectiveness of winter campaigns against Southern Plains Native American groups.
Fletcher, Micah. "Exploring the Rez: Sequoyah's Cabin Museum." Cherokee Phoenix, 22 July 2023, www.cherokeephoenix.org/culture/exploring-the-rez-sequoyah-s-cabin-museum/article‗918037da-27f6-11ee-8cb3-bb80a4b9ee96.html. Accessed 4 June 2024.
Kirouac, Matt. "Historic Sites in OKC." Visit OKC, 22 Sept. 2023, www.visitokc.com/blog/all-posts/post/historic-sites-in-okc/. Accessed 4 June 2024.
"Washita Battlefield." National Park Service, 26 Dec. 2023, npshistory.com/publications/waba/index.htm. Accessed 4 June 2024.