Everything Arkansas City is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Arkansas City.
55-room oil baron palace built 1928. E.W. Marland went from richest man in Oklahoma to broke.
In 1905 Geronimo shot his last buffalo at the 101 Ranch for a crowd of 65000.
Black cowboy who invented bulldogging at the 101 Ranch. First Black honoree in the Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Marland adopted two children then married his adopted daughter Lydie. She became a recluse.
In 1877 the government force-marched 700 Ponca from Nebraska to Indian Territory. A third died.
Lost his fortune then won the governorship. Died nearly broke in the mansion he could no longer afford.
Bryant Baker won a 12-sculptor competition in 1930. Will Rogers helped pick the winner.
Continental Oil Company was headquartered here from 1875 to 2002.
13 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
This seemingly quiet spot holds a complex and often painful history. From 1884 to 1980, this was the location of the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, a boarding school for Native American children. The goal of…
You're driving through Newkirk, Oklahoma, a town born from a land run and a bit of sass! When settlers arrived for the Cherokee Outlet land run in 1893, they landed in a place called Lamoureux. Not exactly inspiring,…
You're driving through Newkirk, Oklahoma, and right here, you're passing by the place where Ada Garside, a pioneering woman photographer, set up her studio back in 1899. In an era when most women stayed home, Ada…
Right here, near you, is Kildare. It started with a railroad depot in 1892, but the real boom happened in 1893 with the Cherokee Outlet Opening. Imagine this: the Santa Fe Railway sold EIGHT THOUSAND tickets to Kildare…
You're driving through northern Oklahoma, and right here in Kay County, an oil boom changed everything. It all kicked off in June 1911, when Ernest Marland struck oil on land belonging to Willie Cries-for-War, a member…
You're driving near the Arkansas River, a waterway that's been a highway for centuries. Back in 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado passed this way. French explorers like La Harpe followed, naming the…
You're driving through Kay County right now, passing by the historic lands of the Big V Ranch. Founded by William H. Vanselous in 1893, this place wasn't just about land; it was about innovation. Vanselous became a…
You're driving through northern Oklahoma, not far from Chilocco. Right here, in the early 1900s, a Creek-Pawnee artist named Acee Blue Eagle began his journey. Born Alex McIntosh in 1909, he picked up the name Acee and…
You're driving through Kay County, not far from the Arkansas River, and you might be passing right over a lost piece of Oklahoma history. This is the Deer Creek Site, believed to be an early- to mid-1700s Wichita…
You're driving through what used to be the Cherokee Outlet, and right here, in the short-lived settlement of Rock Falls, Oklahoma's fight for the Unassigned Lands reached a fever pitch. In 1884, David L. Payne's…
You're driving through Kay County, and right beneath your wheels, buried deep, is a campsite used by Archaic foragers over 5,000 years ago. They were hunters and gatherers, feasting on bison and deer, using distinctive…
You're driving through Braman, a town that owes its very existence to a railroad developer named Dwight Braman. Back in 1898, the Kansas and Southeastern Railroad pushed south into Oklahoma Territory, and right here, a…
In 1905 Geronimo shot his last buffalo at the 101 Ranch for a crowd of 65000.