Everything Walters is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Walters.
39 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
Right here in Walters, Oklahoma, Fred Roy Harris was born in a two-room farmhouse back in 1930. He grew up to be the youngest U.S. Senator ever elected from Oklahoma, winning his seat at just thirty-three years old. He…
Right here, near Walters, Oklahoma, is the birthplace of Van Heflin, an actor who proved Oklahomans could crash Broadway and win Oscars! Born in 1908, Heflin's journey from this state took him to the biggest stages and…
You're driving through Cotton County, and right here is Walters, where Toby Morris made his home and launched a long career in Oklahoma politics. Born in Texas in 1899, Morris moved to Oklahoma as a boy and served in…
You're driving through Walters, Oklahoma, a town born from a land lottery. Back in 1901, this area was opened for settlement by the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes. Right here, a townsite was chosen on Cache Creek…
You're driving through Cotton County, Oklahoma, and right here is the stomping ground of Jed Joseph Johnson. Born in Texas in 1888, his family moved to a farm near Walters when he was just a baby. After serving in World…
Right here, near Cache Creek in what is now Cotton County, was once Warren's Post. Imagine a frontier trading post, but built like a fortress! Around 1843, a visitor described it as a palisade wall with towers on two…
You're driving through Cotton County, Oklahoma, a place born from a bit of a land rush and a fight for identity. Much of this land was once part of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation. In 1901, the eastern part opened…
Right here in Temple, Oklahoma, you're driving past the birthplace of LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris, a name that resonates in the fight for Native American rights. Born in 1931, she grew up on the Comanche Reservation,…
You're driving past Temple, Oklahoma, the birthplace of John L. R. "Pepper" Martin, a baseball legend. Born on leap day in 1904, Martin became the "heart and soul" of the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang." He was…
Right here in Temple, Oklahoma, you're passing through a town that was named to honor Temple Houston, son of the legendary Sam Houston. The plat was ordered in 1902, and the town was incorporated that same year, making…
You're driving through Geronimo, a town named for the famous Apache leader who was once incarcerated at Fort Sill. Right here, Geronimo was platted in 1902, a brand new railroad stop. It quickly grew, becoming a hub for…
You're driving through Hastings, a town that started as a simple tent on the prairie. In 1901, George Andrews set up shop just west of here, selling supplies to folks heading to register for land claims after the Kiowa,…
Right here, in what's now Comanche, Cotton, and Tillman counties, you're driving through the legendary Big Pasture. Back in the late 1800s, this vast grassland was the last frontier for the open-range cattle business.…
You're driving through southern Cotton County, right past Randlett. This is the only town left standing from the Big Pasture Opening back in 1907. Imagine this: forty-five hundred people showed up for the town lot…
Lawton, Oklahoma, a city on the Central Great Plains in Comanche County, owes its existence to the land lottery of 1901. Named in honor of General Henry Ware Lawton, the town quickly became a hub for those seeking…
The rolling grasslands of Comanche County, Oklahoma, typically marked by the distant Wichita Mountains, experienced a significant agricultural shift in recent years. Concerns surrounding water availability and the…
You're driving through Stephens County, not far from Duncan. Right here, you're passing through what was once Empire City. It flared up in the early 1920s as an oil boomtown. Imagine it: three thousand people, dirt…
You're driving through Faxon, a small town in Comanche County. It all started in January 1902, when the post office opened. The town was named for Ralph Faxon, secretary to a U.S. Senator. The Chicago, Rock Island and…
Lawton rises from the rolling plains of southwest Oklahoma, a landscape sculpted by eons of wind and water. The air here is noticeably drier than in the eastern part of the state, reflecting its higher elevation and…
This isn't just another roadside stop; it's a place that echoes with the complex history of Native American education. Fort Sill Indian School, founded in 1871, was part of a nationwide system of boarding schools…
You're rolling through Comanche, Oklahoma, a town with roots stretching back to the late 1800s. It all started with the Tucker post office, established in 1887. But the real townsite, laid out in 1892 by a Chickasaw…
Faxon sits squarely in Comanche County, where the rolling plains of the Central Great Plains ecoregion begin their subtle rise. This is Sequoyah country, a land of wide skies and fertile soil. While no one from Faxon…
You're driving through Comanche territory, a name that likely means 'enemy' to outsiders, but they called themselves numunuu. For centuries, these fierce Plains warriors, masters of horse and buffalo, ranged across what…
You're driving through a historic part of Oklahoma, and right here, in 1901, the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache reservation opened for settlement. Imagine it: over 165,000 people registered for just thirteen thousand…
You're driving through Lawton, Oklahoma, the birthplace of Tommy Wayne Cannon. Born in 1946, Cannon was a pivotal figure in 20th-century Native American art. Alongside Fritz Scholder and Oscar Howe, he helped…
You're driving through Lawton, Oklahoma, a town that was once the childhood home of Hollywood legend Joan Crawford. Born Lucille LeSueur in Texas, she moved here as a baby when her mother remarried. Her stepfather…
You're driving through Lawton, Oklahoma, where one of America's most remarkable senators got his start. Thomas Pryor Gore, born blind, became a powerful orator and a two-time U.S. Senator for Oklahoma. He famously…
You're driving through Lawton, Oklahoma, a town born from a federal land lottery. Right here, in August 1901, the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache lands were opened to settlers. Lawton itself was named for U.S. Army Major General…
Right here in Lawton, Oklahoma, you're passing through the birthplace of N. Scott Momaday, a writer who would bring Native American stories to the world stage. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date"…
You're driving through Oklahoma, and you might just be passing through Lawton, the birthplace of a true music legend: Leon Russell. Born Claude Russell Bridges in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1942</say-as>, he…
Right here in Lawton, you're passing through the stomping grounds of one of Oklahoma's most legendary lawmen: Heck Thomas. Born in Georgia, Thomas served in the Confederate army as a boy, then became a police officer in…
You're driving near Lawton, and right here is the site of the Fort Sill Indian School, which operated for over a century, from 1871 to 1980. It wasn't just a school; it was a place where Native American students…
Right here in Lawton, you're driving past the home of a woman who turned a gift into a multimillion-dollar empire. Edna Hennessee started with a Merle Norman franchise in 1944, but she didn't stop there. In 1973, she…
Right here, near Lawton, Oklahoma, you're driving through a place where history was painted. In 1842, artist John Mix Stanley traveled to Indian Territory, setting up a studio at Fort Gibson and visiting Tahlequah. The…
Right here in Lawton, Oklahoma, you're driving through a town that owes its existence to the great land rush of 1901. Two weeks before the Kiowa and Comanche lands opened up, a young lawyer named Lorraine Michael…
You're driving through Lawton, and right here, a future literary star got her start. Caroline Janice Cherry, who you might know by her pen name C. J. Cherryh, moved to Lawton as a kid. She fell in love with classics,…
You're driving through Comanche County, near Lawton, where Scott Ferris, a prominent Oklahoma politician, got his start. He settled here in 1901, practicing law and quickly rising through the ranks. Ferris went on to…
You're driving through Oklahoma, and right here, in Lawton, back in 1903, a plasterer named J. Harvey Lynch had an idea. Workers in both the Oklahoma and Indian Territories had unions, sure, but they weren't talking to…
You're driving through Cotton County, not far from Devol. This little town experienced a massive boom and bust, all thanks to oil. In 1907, the railroad arrived, and Devol started small. But by 1918, oil fever hit!…