Chickasha, Oklahoma

You're driving through Grady County, near present-day Verden, where a remarkable event unfolded in May 1865. As the Confederacy collapsed, leaders from the Five Tribes and Plains tribes like the Kiowa, Cheyenne, and…

Right here, you're driving past a spot that’s seen history unfold for centuries. Long before it was officially Verden, this area was known as Cottonwood Grove. In 1865, representatives from a dozen Native American…

You're driving through Grady County, and right here is Pocasset. It started in 1901 when plans were made for a townsite along the new Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway line. The very next year, Colonel James…

You're driving through Alex, Oklahoma, but imagine this place in 1906. Just one year after this community house was built for services and school, a massive tornado ripped through town. On July 7th, 1906, the one…

You're driving through Cement, Oklahoma, a town with roots as deep as the gypsum mines that first put it on the map. Back in 1902, this place got its name from a cement mill that hoped to turn local gypsum into building…

The largest all-Native fair in the US since 1932. Dance competitions and tribal pageantry.

Smithsonian-affiliated museum with one of the finest beadwork and regalia collections in the US.

1901 Rock Island depot turned heritage museum. Free admission.

Right here in Blanchard, Oklahoma, you're driving through a town that owes its start to a series of railroad dreams and bankruptcies. Initially planned by the Canadian Valley Construction Company, the railroad plans…

Oldest federally chartered Native boarding school. Thomas Battey started with 8 students in 1871.

42 bronze busts along a three-quarter-mile walkway honoring Native leaders.

Five Kiowa artists exhibited in Prague in 1928 before any US gallery showed Native modern art.

Right here in Anadarko, you're driving past the home of the American Indian Exposition! This amazing cultural event started in the shadow of an earlier fair near Cache, but in 1933, Native leaders decided they wanted…

Hey road-trippers! You're driving through Oklahoma, and right here, in 1923, the state made history. Governor John Walton signed a bill that included an amendment, nicknamed the Montgomery Amendment after its creator…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're driving through a place that became a cradle for a revolutionary art movement. In the 1920s, young Kiowa men and women, mentored by Susie Peters at the Kiowa Agency in Anadarko, began…

Right here near Anadarko, you're driving past a place where a Quaker schoolteacher named Thomas Battey made history. In 1871, Battey arrived at the Wichita Agency, determined to help the Caddo and Kiowa tribes find…

Right here, you're passing through Anadarko, the final resting place of the Kiowa war chief Big Tree. Back in 1871, Big Tree, along with Satanta, was part of a raid into Texas that killed several men. What makes this…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're driving past the land of Black Beaver, a Delaware Indian scout, interpreter, and chief born way back in 1806. This guy was a legend! He spoke eleven languages, reached the Pacific Ocean…

You're driving through Oklahoma, and you might just smell it – the sweet, fried aroma of fry bread. This iconic treat has roots deep in American Indian history, emerging in the mid- to late-1800s. When tribes were…

Right here near Anadarko, you're driving past the legacy of Jack Hokeah, a Kiowa artist who rose to national fame. Born in 1903, Hokeah studied painting at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1920s, alongside other…

You're driving through southwestern Oklahoma, the heart of the Kiowa nation's historic homeland. Imagine this: as recently as the late 1700s, the Kiowa were migrating south from Montana, eventually reaching this very…

You're driving past Anadarko, and right here is the nation's oldest federally operated American Indian boarding school: Riverside Indian School. Organized way back in 1871, it's one of only four such schools still…

You're driving through Caddo County, not far from Anadarko. Right here, in October of 1862, a brutal massacre took place. The Tonkawa tribe, recently relocated from Texas, were camped along the Washita River. They were…

You're driving through Oklahoma, and right here, you're crossing paths with history that stretches back centuries! Long before Oklahoma was even a state, the Wichita people called this land home. In fact, their villages…

The Lenape were relocated ten times across 2000 miles before finally landing here.

You're driving through Caddo County, and you might see the town of Anadarko. But did you know that town was named for a tribe that was driven out of Texas right here into Indian Territory? The Anadarko, or Nadaco, were…

You're driving through Oklahoma, a land that's been home to Apache people for centuries. Around 1800, nomadic Apache groups, like the Lipan and the Fort Sill Apache, began making this region their home, following the…

You're driving past Anadarko, the birthplace of Francis Blackbear Bosin, a Kiowa-Comanche artist who defied convention. Born in 1921, Bosin served in World War II and became a self-taught painter. He blended traditional…

You're driving through Anadarko, Oklahoma, home to a fascinating chapter in the state's cultural history. Right here, John Jasper Methvin, a Methodist missionary, was sent in 1887 to minister to the Kiowa, Comanche, and…

Right here near Anadarko, you're passing by the site of St. Patrick's Mission, which served Native American boys from 1892 until 1966. It was the first Catholic effort specifically for the Plains Indians of Oklahoma,…

You're driving through Anadarko, Oklahoma, the birthplace of one of America's most unsettling crime novelists, Jim Thompson. Born in 1906, Thompson's early life was a whirlwind of his father's oil fortunes and failures,…

You're driving past Anadarko, and right here, in 1901, thousands of people were crammed into a makeshift town called Rag Town. They were all waiting for August 6th, the day the government auctioned off town lots on the…

You're driving through Oklahoma, but the name 'Delaware' has a story that starts way back on the Atlantic coast. Back in 1610, an English explorer named Argall named a bay for Lord De la Warr. But the people who lived…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're driving past a living legacy of American Indian architecture. From the iconic tipi, originally made of bison hides and later canvas, used by nomadic tribes like the Cheyenne and Kiowa, to…

You're driving through Anadarko, the headquarters for the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, which include the Waco people. Their ancestors lived across the southern Plains, speaking related languages and trading with the…

You're driving through Grady County, and right here is Bradley. This town got its start back in 1891 with a post office, but its roots go back to 1887 when brothers William and Winter Bradley settled here. They were…

In 1862 Confederate-allied tribes killed 137-150 Tonkawa including Chief Ha-shu-ka-na.

Federal agency established 1859 to manage the KCA reservation. Foundation of Anadarko.

You're driving through western McClain County, near where the town of Dibble now sits. This area was once part of the Chickasaw Nation, and by 1869, a ranch operated by John and James Dibble was a key stopping point on…

You're driving past Minco, Oklahoma, and you might not realize you're passing through the birthplace of a Kentucky Derby winner! Back in 1890, this town was just getting started, named after a Choctaw word for 'chief.'…

You're driving through Minco, Oklahoma, or maybe just past it. Right here, in the early 1900s, this area was ground zero for polo in Oklahoma. Charles Bryant Campbell, a wealthy Chickasaw citizen, established his 7BC…

You're driving through central Oklahoma, maybe near Minco, and right here is a story about Annette Ross Hume. In the late 1800s, photography was becoming a popular hobby for women, and Annette was one of the earliest…

You're driving past Cyril, a town whose very existence was tied to oil. Originally platted in 1906 on land belonging to a Comanche infant, Cyril boomed when an oil refinery opened in 1918. This refinery, operated by…

Reconstructed tribal villages built on the actual 1868 Washita battlefield approach route.

You're driving through Grady County, and right here is Rush Springs. This spot was a vital watering hole for cattle herds trailing up the Chisholm Trail, but its history goes back even further. In 1858, this area was…

You're driving through Oklahoma, maybe near Rush Springs, and right here, a major battle happened on the frontier. It was October 1858, and Brevet-Major Earl Van Dorn, a decorated Mexican War veteran, was leading a…

You're driving through Grady County, not far from Rush Springs, and right here, on October 1st, 1858, a surprise attack turned a peace conference into a tragedy. U.S. Army forces, operating from Camp Radziminski,…