Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post! Today, I want to tell you about a trail of historical markers in Oklahoma City called, ‘The ’89er Trail.’ I’ll show you what each marker looks like and tell you where to find it.
I am going to transcribe the major text on each panel below the photo so you can read it easier. To read the timeline along the bottom of each panel, please click on the photo and zoom in. Let’s get started!
1. “The Boomers”
“Captain David Payne and his Boomers defied federal authorities to attempt settlement in the Unassigned Lands.
From the 1830s onward, most of present-day Oklahoma was reserved for Native Americans who had been forcibly relocated from their ancestral lands. Following the Union victory in the Civil War, the tribes who had sided with the Confederacy were forced to cede their lands in western Oklahoma, leaving a large area of Unassigned Lands in the middle.
Believing they had a legal right to settle on former Indian land, Boomers, led by Captain David L. Payne staged highly publicized settlement expeditions beginning in 1880. Each time, they were escorted back to Kansas by U.S. soldiers stationed at western forts.
Payne died suddenly in 1884, and was succeeded by Captain William L. Couch, who led additional Boomer incursions in 1884 and 1885. After 1885, Couch took his case to Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress to legalize settlement. On the day of the run, in 1889, Couch was on the payroll of the railroad at Oklahoma Station, ready with family members and other die-hard Boomers to realize his dream of settling the Promised Land.”
Located in front of store, The Painted Door. There is a paid parking lot across the street of you need to park somewhere. Marker 2 is with marker 1.
2. “Indians, Railroads, Ranchers, & the Military”
“Two days before the Land Run in April, 1889, President Harrison set aside a Military Reservation of 160 acres east of the Santa Fe railroad depot, where soldiers were stationed to keep the peace.
In 1886 the first railroads were built through Oklahoma. Coming south from Kansas and north from Texas, the Santa Fe lines joined in Purcell, Oklahoma (in the Chickasaw Nation) in April, 1887. Thirty-five miles north of Purcell, the Oklahoma Station became an important stop. It served the military at Fort Reno, nearby Indian agencies, and ranchers transporting cattle from Indian lands in western Oklahoma.
On March 23, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed high noon on April 22 as the moment settlers could legally enter the Unassigned Lands. By mid-April, the stockyards, side tracks, and depot facilities at Oklahoma Station were ready for a massive influx of settlers.
On April 20, President Harrison issued an executive order creating a Military Reservation of 160 acres east of the Santa Fe tracks and north of Reno. Soldiers under the command of Captain D.F. Stiles were stationed there to maintain law and order among the expected hordes.”
Located in front of store, The Painted Door. Marker 1 is with marker 2.
3. The Land Run
“The race for free land began at noon on April 22, 1889, with an estimated 50,000 participants from all over the world.
At high noon on a bright and clear Monday, April 22, 1889, a drama roared to life when mounted soldiers fired their guns and blew their bugles to signal the Run of 1889. An estimated 50,000 people began the race from the perimeter boundaries of the Unassigned lands.
Station Master A.W. Dunham, who was standing on a box car at noon at Oklahoma Station, saw settlers almost immediately. ‘My astonishment was complete – people seemed to spring up as if by magic as far as the eye could reach. I could see them racing in every direction, some on horses, some in vehicles, and a greater number on foot.’ The settlers he saw had clearly not started from the perimeter boundaries.
Legal settlers began arriving by rail and horseback about 1:15. Those who had started the Run from inside the perimeter boundaries, later dubbed ‘sooners,’ had already staked the choicest claims.
By the end of the day, nearly every townsite lot and homestead claim was occupied. Some claims were legal and some were not. Without officially sanctioned territorial government, settlers were on their own to make sense out of the chaos.”
4. The Land Run
“Oklahoma City & Guthrie, a dozen other towns, and thousands of farms were settled in a day.
The Run of ’89 gave birth to Oklahoma City, which today is the state’s capital and largest city. It also marked the beginning of Guthrie, where the land office registered claims. Guthrie served as the territorial and state capital from 1890 until 1910 when it was unceremoniously moved to Oklahoma City. At least a dozen towns were established in the Run including Edmond, Norman, Kingfisher, and Stillwater. Most were near railroad or stage stops thought to be prime locations for future cities.
For months before the opening, excitement spread across the country for the opportunity to claim free land in Oklahoma. Opportunists, speculators, and drifters from every state made their way to the Kansas and Texas borders. Prospective townsite companies were organized to speculate on the sale of town lots. Eligible settlers included men over age 21, and children accompanied by eligible adults. Those who had visited the land before were required to retreat to the boundaries at least three days before the opening. As the fateful day approached, thousands of people gathered their belongings for the mad dash across the prairie.”
This marker is located by the Santa Fe Train Station on the West side.
5. The Citizen’s Committee
“Overnight, a city of tents arose next to the railroad station. But where were the streets and lot lines? Amid the confusion, a mass meeting was called which elected a committee to bring order with a new survey.
Confusion reigned on Tuesday, April 23, the day after the Land Run, as settlers realized that nobody was in charge. Surveyors representing competing townsite companies tried to mark the streets on land that a day earlier had been open prairie. As conflicts escalated, a small group of men called a mass meeting, enlisting boys on ponies to spread the word.
Settlers flocked to the southwest corner of Main and Broadway. Angelo C. Scott, a young Kansan with a booming voice was elected chairman. Amidst heated discussions, the assembly resolved to conduct a new townsite survey and entrusted its oversight to a citizens’ committee to be elected on the spot, each member to come from a different state.
Citizens shouted the names of their nominees, who were hustled onto boxes next to the chairman and secretary. ‘If the crowd liked his looks they voted him up; if not, they voted him down,’ recalled Scott.
Fourteen citizens were elected, and they proceeded to sort out conflicting claims and provide a semblance of leadership as settlers went back to work setting up camp on the open prairie.”
This marker is on the North side of the Sheraton building at the Southwest corner of Main and Broadway. Markers 5 & 6 are together!
6. Settling the Surveys
“The Citizen’s Survey, begun the day after the Run, was reconciled with the earlier survey of the Seminole Town and Improvement Company at a mass meeting on April 27.
As the Citizens’ Committee and its surveyors worked north from the section line at Reno, a subcommittee of five – the awarding committee – met with rival claimants on each surveyed lot, listened to their stories and award claims. Crowds gathered around, and a clever settler nailed three boards in a triangle to separate the subcommittee and claimants from the curious observers. The work of the awarding committee proceeded smoothly without rancor.
By Friday, the surveyors had reached Main Street, where they encountered major discrepancies with the survey of the Seminole Town Company and hostility from settlers whose claims would be threatened by realignment. Continuation of the Citizens’ Survey would throw hundreds of settlers off their lots.
Saturday morning, a nasty confrontation ensued with threats of violence from Seminole settlers. Another mass meeting was called that afternoon with Angelo Scott again presiding. A conference committee of ten was chosen, five from north and five from south of Main Street, to reconcile the conflicting surveys.
The conference committee quickly went to work and at dusk that Saturday the citizens adopted the report of the conference committee by acclamation.”
This marker is on the North side of the Sheraton building at the Southwest corner of Main and Broadway. Markers 5 & 6 are together!
7. The Election of May 1, 1889
“A slate of candidates supported by the Seminole Town and Improvement Company, including the temporary mayor William Couch, was elected at the polls on Wednesday, May 1.
At the mass meeting on April 27, after the compromise survey was adopted, a group of residents backing the Seminole Town and Improvement Company proposed the election of a temporary mayor. William L. Couch, the prominent Boomer and trustee of the Seminole Company was elected. Two days later he published a proclamation calling a general election for May 1 with two wards and polling places, one north and one south of Main Street.
When Election Day arrived, citizens confirmed Couch as mayor and chose a city council and other officials of a provisional government. With the advantage of an organization that nominated candidates, the Seminole Company and its backers were the overwhelming victors.
Many settlers didn’t realize at the time that they were setting in motion policies that favored lot claims by illegal sooners, and the sale of lot certificates for the profit of a private business. A rival faction quickly emerged – known as Kickapoos – that challenged the Seminoles at every turn.”
This marker is in front of the Continental Resources building across from the Bancfirst Tower. It’s on the corner of Broadway and Main.
8. A Summer of Political Unrest
“Soon after the election on May 1, the city became ensnarled in political conflict.
The rules for establishing lot ownership were unclear and the attempts of the city council to clarify matters with ordinances and lot certificates sold by the city or Seminole Company poured fuel on the flames. Opponents (calling themselves Kickapoos) challenged the city charter that had been adopted with little debate on April 27.
All summer long the Kickapoo and Seminole factions argued over the need for a new charter. An election on a Kickapoo proposal was blocked by the city government on July 16. A Seminole counter-proposal taken to the polls on August 29 was overwhelmingly rejected. Finally, an election called by the Kickapoos for September 21 was blocked by the mayor and soldiers armed with bayonets.
But even as debate raged in the streets every evening near Main and Broadway, settlers were busy with their new lives. Wooden houses replaced tents, businesses appeared everywhere, churches formed, schools and civic organizations were established, and the tent city quickly became a thriving community.”
This marker is in front of the old Cox Convention Center.
9. The Building of Oklahoma City
“A reporter from Harper’s Weekly returned to Oklahoma City two months after its birth to find its progress remarkable beyond belief.
William Willard Howard writing an article called ‘The Building of Oklahoma’ in the June 29, 1889 issue of Harper’s Weekly, said:
‘That Oklahoma would, in the first two months of its existence, get much beyond its chaotic state of tents and hap-hazard existence was not thought possible even by those enthusiasts whose imaginations were as rosy as the soil of the Oklahoma uplands; that it would in that time have better buildings than many Western towns ten years old was simply not thought of at all.’
‘The wonderful rapidity with which Oklahoma City and Guthrie [e]merged from what at first appeared to be confused camps of holiday excursionists into matter-of-fact towns of excessively practical ways of thought, showed plainly the dominating influence of the experienced Kansas town-builder. No people other than those who had grown skillful in the work of building pioneer towns in the West could have created a town of such compactness, completeness, and future promise as Oklahoma City in the incredibly short space of time of two months. The result shows that the new citizens of Oklahoma had planned what to do weeks ahead, that they had ordered their lumber and other building supplies, and that, with the exception of delays unavoidable in a pioneer country, they had carried out their arrangements like clockwork.’”
This marker is on the Southwest corner of Sheridan and Gaylord.
10. City Hall by Forfeiture
“The mayor and city council of Oklahoma City first met on May 3, 1889 in the law office of councilman Ledru Guthrie on the south side of Main Street, mid-block west of the Santa Fe tracks. The city had very little revenue to pay rent or salaries. Its revenues were limited to sales of lot certificates, fines, licenses, and the like.
Fifteen months later, after the election of a new mayor and city council in August, 1890, the council voted to lease council chambers, a police courtroom, and clerk’s office in the Kuhlman Building at 13 N. Broadway for $25 per month. The Black and Rogers saloon occupied the first floor.
Nearby, on the northwest corner of Broadway and Grand, Joe and James T. Hill, who had arrived as sooners on April 22, were operating a boarding house, saloon, and billiard hall, all duly licenses by the city. In October, 1893, the townsite trustees determined that the Hill brothers were sooners and in the absence of other claimants, delivered a deed for the two lots to the city. A few days later, the Hill brothers were arrested for allowing gambling and liquor on the same premises, their property was seized, and the city offices promptly moved into the vacant building.”
This marker is in front of the old Cox Convention Center.
11. Indian Lands Near the Unassigned Lands
“A month after the Land Run, Cheyenne and Arapahoe delegates were in Oklahoma City to negotiate the future of their lands west and north of the Unassigned Lands.
After the Civil War, Indian tribes that had sided with the Confederacy were forced to cede their land in western Oklahoma to the US government for the later resettlement of other tribes. By the Creeks and Seminoles retained residual claims to the Unassigned Lands. On March 1, 1889, Congress approved a treaty acquiring the Creek claims, and the next day they authorized the acquisition of the Seminole claims and opening of the Unassigned Lands for resettlement.
The Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes were given land in the Cherokee Outlet (north of the Unassigned Lands) and west of the Unassigned Lands by treaty in 1867. In 1889 the winds of change in Washington persuaded tribal leaders to consider opening these lands for non-Indian settlement. On May 23 and 24, 1889 a group of Cheyenne and Arapahoe leaders met with federal officials in Oklahoma City and worked out an agreement. Ratified after a bitter struggle within the tribes, this agreement led to land runs opening their western land on April 19, 1892 and the Cherokee Outlet on September 16, 1893.”
This marker is in front of the Santa Fe Parking Garage.
12. South Oklahoma
“On Saturday, April 27 the citizens of South Oklahoma elected G.W. Patrick mayor along with a full slate of city officials.
On April 23, 1889, G.W. Patrick began surveying south from the section line at Reno, as the Citizens’ Survey began working north. Encountering no conflicting surveys, Patrick’s crew laid out 35 blocks along seven streets, and settlers made adjustments as required. By Saturday, April 27 the citizens of South Oklahoma were ready to elect Patrick mayor along with a full slate of city officials. In spite of frequent turnover, the South Oklahoma officials served until Oklahoma City and South Oklahoma were combined in July 1890 according to rules set by the Organic Act establishing Oklahoma territory.
According to the City Directory published by the Oklahoma Chief newspaper, in August 1889, South Oklahoma contained approximately 1,300 residents compare with about 3,700 north of Reno in Oklahoma City (except for the south side of Reno) and was the most densely developed portion of the two cities. During the 15 months of its separate existence, South Oklahoma had a contentious political life, reflecting the land claim disputes of its larger neighbor to the north.”
This marker is on the sidewalk around the Myriad Gardens.
13. Visit of the Congressmen
“A visit by influential members of Congress in September 1889 was the most important event in Oklahoma since the Run itself.
On Tuesday, September 17, 1889, six congressmen arrived by rail from Guthrie for a first-hand look at life in Oklahoma country. Following a tour of the city, they joined a large gathering for barbecue and speeches. Mayor Couch and city councilman Sidney Clarke delivered the welcome. Congressman Charles Mansur of Missouri, and William Springer of Illinois, author of the legislation that opened Oklahoma country to non-Indian settlement, addressed the crowd.
That evening a gala dinner event at the Bone and McKinnon building showed off the city and its citizens in all their finery. Before leaving the following morning, the dignitaries promised to do what they could do to hasten federal legislation to establish territorial governance.
For a brief time the city’s feuding factions came together to show their most friendly face. Yet barely four days later, a city charter election aimed at overthrowing the Seminole-controlled city government would be stopped at bayonet-point by Captain Stiles and his soldiers from the Military Reservation, acting at the direction of Mayor Couch and the city council.”
This marker is on the sidewalk around the Myriad Gardens.
14. Hell’s Half Acre
“Big Anne Wynn, the town’s most prominent madam, pitched a tent on Front Street on the day of the Run to provide female companionship for the overwhelmingly male population.
Disembarking at Santa Fe Station new arrivals encountered a district that came to be known as Hell’s Half Acre. The streets were referred to as Alabaster Row, Hop Boulevard, and Bunco Alley. Nine billiard halls and 18 club houses were counted in the city directory of August, 1889. Big Anne Wynn became a powerful figure in the shadow world of adult entertainment which provided the city with consistent revenues and challenges in law enforcement.
The western edge of the block was Broadway, nicknamed Battle Row. At various times it housed the Two Johns Saloon, the Black and Rogers Saloon, the Turf Club, and the Vendome (the flushed bawdy house in town), alongside the First National Bank, the Lee Hotel, and above the Black and Rogers Saloon, the city council chambers and police court.
For years a war raged between the advocated for enforcing morality, and those favoring an open city even if the edges were a bit rowdy. The dance halls, and many of its prominent citizens enjoyed an occasional visit. Oklahoma City attracted people from all over the country, and offered a flourishing den of temptation.”
This marker is in front of Pinkitzel in Bricktown.
15. The Resignation of Mayor William L. Couch
“First a boomer, then a sooner, then the first mayor of Oklahoma City, William L. Couch resigned as mayor on November 11, 1889. Five months later, he died of a gunshot wound by a rival homestead claimant, the day before the first anniversary of the Land Run.
After a summer of heated disputes among lot claimants, unremitting criticism from his political opponents the Kickapoos, and a dramatic confrontation with voters in the charter election of September 21, Mayor Couch abruptly resigned as Mayer on November 11, 1889. Increasingly concerned about rival claimants of his homestead who accused him of being a sooner, he joined his family just west of the city limits to protect his 160 acre claim.
Couch’s homestead was claimed by two other settlers who had built houses on the acreage and several townsite companies that had hoped to establish West Oklahoma City. On April 4, 1890, rival claimant John C. Adams, also a sooner, fired his rifle at Couch and hit him in the leg. The wound became infected and on April 21, 1890, Couch was dead. A massive funeral the following day honored the city’ first mayor on the first anniversary of the Run of ’89.”
This marker is on the sidewalk around the Myriad Gardens.
16. Beale Defeats Overholser For Mayor
“With a margin of only 14 votes, Beale claimed a mandate to overturn seven months of Seminole-dominated city rule. Within a month the city was in chaos and city governance was shut down by federal authorities.
Dr. A.J. Beale, the leader of the Kickapoo faction was nominated to replace Mayor Couch after his resignation on November 11. The Seminole faction, knowing how badly they had lost their charter election in late August, were leery of nominating one of their own. Instead, they pressed Henry Overholser, the chairman of the Board of Trade and a businessman aligned with neither faction to run against Beale. 732 voters turned out for the election on November 27, and Beale won by 14 votes.
Facing a hostile Seminole city council, the new Kickapoo mayor announced his intention to declare two council seats vacant and to call and election for December 30. He also stated his opposition to recognizing the validity of Seminole lot certificates and announced a plan to file a plat of the city at the Land Office that would conflict with the Consensus Survey in use since April 27. A frenzy of lot jumping erupted, and panicked property owners began appealing to federal authorities for help. On December 30, US Marshal Walker in Wichita called off the election and ordered and end to any adverse claims against existing property ownership.”
This marker is in front of City Hall in Oklahoma City. It’s across the street from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
17. The Oklahoma Territory Organic Act
“On May 2, 1890, Congress passed long-awaited legislation establishing federally sanctioned territorial government for Oklahoma.
The Organic Act defined Oklahoma Territory boundaries to include the lands west of Indian Territory and the panhandle north of Texas known as No Man’s Land. The Unassigned Lands were divided into six numbered counties, with Oklahoma City as the seat of government in county #2. As the federal government acquired Indian land and opened it for settlement, the land would be included in Oklahoma Territory. Rules were established for the election of territorial and local officials. The laws of Nebraska were applied to Oklahoma Territory until the new legislature could adopt its own.
Thirteen months after the Run of ’89, residents of Oklahoma City had a federal framework for government. The long period of ad-hoc governance and political instability was over.”
This marker is in front of City Hall in Oklahoma City. It’s across the street from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
18. The New Framework of Government
“Following enactment of the Organic Act in May, 1890, territorial, county, and city governments were quickly established. Federal townsite laws clarified the procedure for confirming and settling land claims, and a land office opened in Oklahoma City.
The newly appointed governor of Oklahoma Territory, George W. Steele arrived in Guthrie on May 23, 1890 and quickly began making appointments and getting to know the new territory.
On May 14, 1890, Congress enacted a law for establishing townsites by trustees appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. The new law recognized claims evidenced by lot certificates. The Village of Oklahoma City, consisting of 400 acres – South Oklahoma, Oklahoma City proper, and 80 acres north of 4th Street – was duly incorporated on July 15. Wishing days the trustees had divided the city into four wards and called for an election of a new mayor, city council, and other officials. On August 9, 1890 the voters chose W.J. Gault as the first officially-elected mayor of Oklahoma City.
A land office opened in Oklahoma city, and the long process began of confirming ownership of homesteads and townsite lots by the trustees. Decisions made long before by an awarding committee, arbitration board, and city recorder issuing lot certificates were weighed. Some settlers had their claims confirmed and others did not. When evidence showed they had violated the rules of the Run, most sooners lost their claims.”
This marker is in front of City Hall in Oklahoma City. It’s across the street from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
19. Prominent Land Cases
“Most land claim disputes were resolved by settlement, or purchase and relinquishment. But some required lengthy litigation.
With territorial government authorized by Congress in May, 1890, a formal structure was established for resolving land disputes. Trustees of townsites were appointed by the Interior Secretary to approve surveys and confirm land ownership. A Land Office was opened in Oklahoma City, and the Register took testimony and ruled on town lots and homestead claims. Appeals could be made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the Secretary of Interior, and county, territorial, and federal courts. Some cases made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. A few lingered on into the early 1900s.
Rival homestead claimants often lived on different parts of the same 160 acre homestead. One might try to farm the land and fence off others who were in the way, or sell off gravel, clay, or timber. A sooner whose claim looked risky might sell his relinquishment to another person who thought that he could eventually buy out rival claimants. In the city proper, a settlement payment from one claimant to another was often a pre-condition of investment in a business, or a building or home. These agreements or sometimes lengthy litigation decided who would remain in control of the land.”
This marker is in front of City Hall in Oklahoma City. It’s across the street from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
20. “The Ill-Fated July Fourth Celebration”
“An extravagant three-day event played out under a cloud of tragedy.
Oklahoma City was eager to showcase its can-do spirit with a first-class celebration on July 4, 1889. Promoters hoped to attract as many as 20,000 people. A baseball diamond, grandstand, and horse track were set up east of the Santa Fe tracks in the Military Reservation. Two hundred Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Caddo Indians were brought in to entertain visitors. Events included a big parade, horse racing, feats of horsemanship, Indian war dances, a baseball game, and military drills.
While the visitor turnout was far below expectations, the event that would be remembered as the ‘Fall of Babylon’ occurred at 3:00 on the first afternoon. The grandstand above the refreshment stand collapsed killing one boy and injuring many others. What was planned as a great celebration finished its three day run under a cloud of unexpected tragedy.”
This marker is in front of The Joinery.
21. “Military Land Becomes School Land”
“The Military Reservation was released to Oklahoma City in 1894 and proceeds of lot sales were used to pay for school sites and construction.
Just before the Run of ’89, the federal government reserved 160 acres east of the Santa Fe Railroad for troops to maintain law and order. Known as the Military Reservation, the area’s function became obsolete when soldiers turned over peace keeping to civilian authorities in 1890.
To meet the needs of a bustling community, women’s organizations joined forces to secure the acreage for schools. They turned to Sidney Clarke, chairman of the city council and a former congressman from Kansas, and Dennis Flynn, the Oklahoma Territory congressional delegate. Flynn attached a rider to an appropriation bill passed by Congress in August, 1894. The bill authorized the release of the Military Reservation to the city of Oklahoma City for public school purposes.
The four-room log house formerly used as barracks was converted to a high school – the city’s first – unit Irving High could be built nearby. The city was divided into four wards with a school to be located in each. Land purchase and school construction were funded by the sale of bonds, which were retired by the proceeds of lot sales in the former Military Reservation.”
This marker is next to the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
22. “The Canal”
“Construction began in 1889 on a six mile canal intended to deliver water power to an industrial district in South Oklahoma. Ambitious but flawed, the project proved to be a financial disaster.
The largest commercial venture undertaken in the early years of the city was the Oklahoma City Ditch and Water Power Company’s construction of a dam in the North Canadian River and a 6 mile canal to the site of a proposed mill and electric generation plant at the south edge of South Oklahoma.
Though some doubter the project’s feasibility, the company raised $50,000 through the sale of bonds and a stock subscription widely supported by the Board of Trade and citizens of Oklahoma City. Former Mayor Couch threw the first dirt on December 9, 1889, and for the next year hundreds of men were employed building an elevated channel lined with timber to by-pass more than 15 miles of meandering river.
The canal was completed by Christmas Eve 1890, when 5,000 citizens turned out to watch a torrent of water pour from the outfall. The flour mill built by C.G. Jones and electric turbine owned by the canal company both turned for a few days then ground to a halt. The canal ‘…proved a failure,’ wrote pioneer journalist Fred L. Wenner, ‘the water disappearing in quick sands underlying its course and into gopher and ground hog holes in the banks as fast as it flowed in from the river.’ For six months efforts to contain the water in the channel came to naught. Nevertheless, the project became a legend of aspirational civic commitment for pioneers of the ambitious new city.”
Found in Scissortail Park next to marker 23.
23. “C.G. ‘Gristmill’ Jones”
“After building a four mill in 1889, C.G. Jones emerged as an energetic businessman and civic leader, serving in the territorial legislature and as mayor of Oklahoma City.
Charles G. Jones moved to Oklahoma City from rural Illinois in the fall of 1889 at age 32, determined to find opportunity in the growth of a pioneer city. He quickly set about building a flour mill to meet the needs of the surrounding country and to make use of the water power to come from the new canal. The five-story grain elevator and mill was the largest building in town by the first winter of 1889-1890.
The failure of the canal the following winter was a setback, but Jones had converted to steam by the summer of 1891. The mill was the only facility of its kind within 120 miles, and its flour products won prizes from the Chicago Exposition in 1893. Jones earned the respect of his community and the lifelong nickname of ‘Gristmill.’
Jones was elected to the first two territorial legislatures, serving a stint as speaker of the House. He served as mayor of Oklahoma City from 1896-1897 and again from 1901-1903. He was a leader in promoting railroads – notably the Frisco – and the State Fair. Platting townsites along the rail lines, he gave his name to the City of Jones, where he owned a farm, and his son’s name to the City of Luther.”
Found in Scissortail Park next to marker 22.
24. The Choctaw Road
“Promising future prosperity, another railroad crossed downtown.
In August, 1889, an issue surfaced with settlers that would reverberate for years to come. The Choctaw Coal and Railway Company wanted to build a railroad (the ‘Choctaw Road’) through Oklahoma City to carry coal from McAlester in Indian Territory. The company had been granted a right-of-way by Congress in 1888 which was ignored by the Seminole survey and settlers were now occupying all the lots where the railroad wanted to build. Would the settlers in the way relinquish their claims? It wouldn’t be easy.
After Congress authorized territorial government and W.J. Gault was elected the first Mayer under territorial law, a compromise was negotiated to reduce the Choctaw right-of-way to 100 feet, use the east-west alley between First and Second Streets, and buy 40 feet on either side from lot holders for about $20,000. A committee selected by the mayor and Board of Trade asked citizens and businesses to contribute the required funds. When the committee came up short, the city decided to raise the fees for saloon licenses and sell scrip backed up by the increase. The saloon keepers bought the scrip at discount, effectively funding the rail line. The right of way was acquired and the first Choctaw train arrived on May 10, 1891.”
This marker is near B.C. Clark on Broadway.
25. Charles Colcord
“Charles Colcord, a native of Kentucky, spent his formative years as a cowboy in western Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona. In 1889, at age 29, he came to Oklahoma City looking for opportunity, and found it by trading his horse and bridle for lot 1, block 1, next to the Santa Fe tracks on Reno. His wife soon joined him, spending her first night at the Arbecka Hotel across from Santa Fe station and complaining about the noise of carousers in Hell’s Half Acre.
Colcord was soon serving as a deputy U.S. marshal, doing his best to maintain law and order in the frontier city. In the fall of 1889, he and his wife bought a house at the corner of 4th and Broadway, which would later be the site of the Daily Oklahoman.
A year later, Colcord was elected as the first territorial police chief in Oklahoma City. He would later serve in the territorial legislature, and when oil was discovered at Red Fork, near Tulsa, he became a wildcatter. His success as an entrepreneur in oil and real estate made him a prominent citizen. In 1903, he built a large house on 13th Street at the edge of what today is the Heritage Hills neighborhood, and in 1910 he built the Colcord office building, which today is the Colcord Hotel.”
This marker is on the sidewalk around the Myriad Gardens.
26. Henry Overholser
“An ardent promoter and businessman: perhaps the greatest of the founding fathers.
Prior to the Run of 1889, Ohio native Henry Overholser arranged for 10 railroad cars of prefabricated wood-frame buildings and lumber to be waiting for him at Oklahoma Station. Within days after his arrival on April 24, he erected six two-story buildings on lots he had purchased on Grand (later, Sheridan) Avenue, and they remained there until Charles F. Colcord bought them to build the Colcord Building in 1910. Within a month of his arrival, Overholser was elected president of the Board of Trade, predecessor of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Until his death in 1915 he was one of the city’s most ardent and effective boosters, investing in a streetcar company, railroads, banks, and the State Fair.
Couch’s resignation as mayor in November 1889 led to Overholser’s first run for political office, a race he lost by a scant 14 votes. In 1894 he was elected County Commissioner, a position he held for six years. His son Ed served as mayor from 1915-1918, and later as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce from 1922-1930. Lake Overholser is named for his son, Ed.
Overholser built and operated the Grand Avenue Hotel, the magnificent Overholser Opera House, the Overholser Block, and the Overholser Theater, all near Grand and Robinson. His unwavering promotion of business, banking, and an unfettered frontier economy earned him the respect of his fellow city-builders and a reputation as arguably the greatest of Oklahoma City’s founding fathers.”
This marker is on the sidewalk around the Myriad Gardens.
27. T.M. Richardson and the Oklahoma Bank
“Lumberman, Banker, and Business Leader.
On the afternoon of April 22, T.M. Richardson, and his son T.M. Jr., from Albany, Texas, staked a claim at the Northeast corner of Clarke Street (later Grand, and today Sheridan) and Harvey, where the Devon Tower stands today. This became the site of the Jones and Richardson Lumber Company, which would soon be the largest lumber company in the region.
At the southwest corner of Broadway and Main Street, he purchased a lot and opened the Oklahoma Bank, arguably the first in the new city, in a tent. The next year it was given the name First National Bank, and within a few years Richardson had built a three story building for the bank on the same corner.
He was a founding member of the Board of Trade, its first treasurer, and a member of the railroad and finance committee. His First National Bank would live on through paints, recessions, mergers, and takeovers until it became a part of Bank of American in the 1980s.”
28. Angelo C. Scott
“Journalist, Lawyer, Educator, Orator, and Author of Oklahoma City History.
Arriving from Kansas on April 22, Angelo C. Scott, age 31 and his brother W.W. Scott started a newspaper, the Oklahoma Times, soon renamed the Journal, the first in Oklahoma City. When the first mass meeting took place on April 23, A.C. Scott found himself standing on a wagon as the moderator. He was soon chosen to serve on the Citizen’s Committee of 14 to survey the townsite and the Committee of 5 to reconcile the Citizen’s and Seminole surveys. His newspaper was a temperate voice of reason during the first year of chaotic debates.
Scott served on the Legislation and Education Committees of the first Board of Trade, helped start the First Presbyterian Church, the YMCA, the Men’s Dinner Club, and many other early civic organizations. As a lawyer and published he was involved in many early business initiatives as well.
He would late serve in the territorial senate as president pro ten, and in 1889 was named President of Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). His many writings about the early days of Oklahoma City have been an invaluable resource for subsequent historians.
This marker looks across Main Street at the location of Scott’s law office.”
This marker is in front of the Continental Resources building across from the Bancfirst Tower. It’s on the corner of Broadway and Main.
Concluding Thoughts
I enjoyed running around Oklahoma City finding these markers on much breaks. I talked my dad into going with me to find them and it took us three lunch breaks to find them all!
I hope you learned something new and have fun trying to find them yourself. There is a map on the bottom of each panel with locations!
Happy Traveling! I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂
The Active Historian 
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