Great Plains Country, Oklahoma
In southwestern Oklahoma the golden shortgrass prairie extends for mile after undulating mile, mirroring the sky in its vastness. Less than a century and a half ago, the Southern Plains were the domain of the Kiowa and Comanche, who hunted buffalo on horses bridled with Spanish silver and traded with the Wichitas, farmers who lived in grass houses. To the Kiowa, the earth was sacred, and the Wichitas believed their ancestors lived on in the 650-million-year-old granite boulders of the Wichita Mountains. Travelers exploring the region today may encounter moments of similar reverence -- watching the sun set from atop Mount Scott in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, for instance, or watching an eagle soar in winter. A rowdier spirit lives endures in the area, too: Teddy Roosevelt created the wildlife refuge after he traveled to Oklahoma Territory to hunt wolves. Bison now graze on the 60,000-acre preserve, along with longhorn cattle, antelope and elk -- rugged mountain biking, hiking, camping and backpacking are permitted in some areas.
Explore Great Plains Country
The Hughes Building and Hughes Jewelry
Originally the National Bank of Commerce (est 1902) with a Victorian red brick exterior, this historic Frederick building has for some 70 years now been clad with the beige 'deco' rock exterior it features today. The home of Hughes Jewelry since 1952
Frederick, OK Historic BuildingsNew Holy City History Book Available
Oklahoma City author, Jacqulein Vaughn Lowry has authored a new pictorial history book about the Holy City of the Wichitas. Published by Arcadia Publishing company, the book chronicles the rich history of the Holy City from 1926
Lawton, OK LiteratureClinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark
Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSIA), formerly Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base and Clinton Naval Air Station, encompasses approximately 3,000 acres in western Oklahoma adjacent to the town of Burns Flat. The Air Force closed the facility in 1969. In the summer of 1971
Burns Flat, OK MilitaryThe Great Western Cattle Trail
When driving between Lone Wolf in Kiowa County and Granite in Greer County, on Highway 9, or west out of Sentinel on Highway 55, even the natives of the area have trouble imagining six million Texas Longhorn cattle with hundreds of trail bosses, chuckwagons, and remudas of 40 to 50
Hobart, OK LandmarksOld Pioneer Hall of Fame
On the grounds of the Museum is the Old Pioneer Hall of Fame to honor the Pioneers who were in this area before 1907. Their picture and history are carved in Pink Granite stone and is unique, as there is none other like it in this country. By 1986, there were 160
Mangum, OK Halls of FameNational Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians
The National Hall of Fame of Famous American Indians was established to recognize famous Indians. It was a chance to provide a portrait in bronze bust for people to touch and see the famous people in a three dimensional likeness that they read about in history books. Formed in 1952
Anadarko, OK Halls of FameGreat Plains State Park
Great Plains State Park is located on 6400-acre Tom Steed Lake west of the Wichita Mountains in Kiowa County near the town of Mountain Park. A drive along Hwy 183 provides a scenic route that winds its way through the mountains along the lake'
, OK State ParksApache Municipal Building
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Apache, OK Historic BuildingsHackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area
At one time Hackberry Flat was a large isolated wetland that in the wettest of years may have been more than 3,000 acres in size. Thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds once used this wetland as a stopping place during both fall and spring migrations. In the early 1900
Frederick, OK Wildlife Areas