For The Historically Minded . . .

[RadicalModerate]

OK . . . Here's one for the Historical Geography/Cartography buffs in here.

On another thread, there was a little discussion involving the fact that Oklahoma was once two territories that nearly became two separate states. I went looking for a map of The State of Sequoia (Indian Territory) and came across this old map. (A click to enlarge version is on the website, itself.)
Indian Nations & Oklahoma 1895 Map Addendum



If the size of the print showing the names of the towns is any indication, Guthrie was pretty big as were a few others that have now been dwarfed by Oklahoma City (which, on the map, is simply Oklahoma and pretty small.)

If you go north from Anadarko and/or northwest from Chickasha you will see a town call Wilber. Apparently, it was a pretty good-sized town (about the same size as Kingfisher) at the time the map was made. Under the name Wilber (in parentheses) it says (never opened). There is nothing that I could find by Googling that provides the slightest clue about Wilber, Oklahoma Territory.

(I did, however learn a lot about Wilbur Underwood whose outlaw exploits made those of Bonnie and Clyde pale in comparison. But I don't want to digress . . . =)

Here's the question(s): What the heck was Wilber like? Into what town did Wilber morph, if it did, indeed, at some point morph?

Could it possibly be where the "Caddo Nation Complex" is now located on contemporary maps?

[Martin]

i wonder if wilber ever existed beyond planning... the boundaries of county "i" are a bit different than present day caddo county. my guess is that wilber was planned as the county seat (which is why it's in bigger letters) but got the axe when the county's boundaries changed. with the boundaries extended further south across the wash1ta, my guess is that the existing town of anadarko made the logical choice. if my calculus is correct, wilber would have been awfully close to the existing town of lookeba... which makes some sense since this map is supposed to be from 1895 and lookeba was founded in 1902, named after the three town promoters LOwe, KElly and BAker. not sure if the placement is coincidence or if lookeba is what wilber ended up being called. i think what this map means by "not opened" is that the area was not opened to white settlement... that didn't happen until 1901. -M

[Martin]

seriously... wa****a gets filterpwned? guess black kettle had a hand in the cussword filters. -M

[RadicalModerate]

I mentioned The Wa****a Phenomenon a long time ago.
The work-around is Wash!ta . . . which makes the town seem a whole lot more exciting than it actually is.
Although the "Indian" word Wa****a means "town of many stars."

(Back on Topic):

Good Info, Above!!! Thanks!
Was Wilber perhaps the first name of one of the "Lookeba" Boys?
And how smart were these guys who had the foresight to invent the name of a town that sounded authentically "Indian"? =)

Side Note: Jones used to be Glaze. Luther apparently used to be Hilton. Ever been to Luther? It's about as far from a Hilton as one can imagine.
I don't think that Fallis ever actually changed its name. Just the spelling.

P.S. Historians speculate that the lone Anglo resident of the failed county seat of Wilber was named Wilbur and had a talking pony he called Edward.

[Just the facts]

I would place Wilber about where current day Gracemont is.

[Martin]

yeah... i called it wash1ta. i must not think it's quite as exicting. or my shift key is broken.

maybe one of those guy's first name was wilber... none of the sources of info i found included their first names. i don't think i mentioned above that "wilber" isn't in the book "oklahoma place names" and it's pretty exhaustive.

according to the book, fallis **snicker** was originally named mission and was renamed in 1894 after its first postmaster, william h. fallis. must've been a real stand up guy. **chortle**

another thing i picked up while looking all this up was that chickasha was originally called waco when founded in 1890, was renamed pensee in 1891 and then got its current name in 1892. chickasha is a more accurate spelling of Chickasaw but the popular pronounciation (CHICK-uh-shay) is wrong... i think it's supposed to be more like chick-AH-shuh. -M

[Martin]

I would place Wilber about where current day Gracemont is.

i think that may be too far south... anyway oklahoma place names says that 'gracemont' was originally named 'ison', which was founded in 1902. -M

[RadicalModerate]

yeah... i called it wash1ta. i must not think it's quite as exicting. or my shift key is broken.

maybe one of those guy's first name was wilber... none of the sources of info i found included their first names. i don't think i mentioned above that "wilber" isn't in the book "oklahoma place names" and it's pretty exhaustive.

according to the book, fallis **snicker** was originally named mission and was renamed in 1894 after its first postmaster, william h. fallis. must've been a real stand up guy. **chortle**

another thing i picked up while looking all this up was that chickasha was originally called waco when founded in 1890, was renamed pensee in 1891 and then got its current name in 1892. chickasha is a more accurate spelling of Chickasaw but the popular pronounciation (CHICK-uh-shay) is wrong... i think it's supposed to be more like chick-AH-shuh. -M

So . . . Are you, like, the reincarnation of one of those kids in front of that Big Schoolhouse on the Ominous Flatlands ?
If you look really closely at the picture I think there are a couple of the little boys being silly and giggly: Inappropriate behavior centered around those exact same jokes. =)

PS/BTW: "Wash1ta" implies that it is Number One. It is not. It is more like Number 2.
("Hey, Miz Schoolmarm, don't get on my case . . . RoboPrude SpelChek started it . . .")

[Martin]

hmmm... looking at this some more, it seems that binger is a good possibility, too. the map shows wilber as pretty much due west of minco and north and just a bit west of anadarko. gracemont is too far south to fit that and lookeba is too far north... but binger might be right on target. it was founded in 1901 and named after its first postmaster binger hermann. -M

[Just the facts]

i think that may be too far south... anyway oklahoma place names says that 'gracemont' was originally named 'ison', which was founded in 1902. -M

Maybe across Sugar Creek from Binger then?

On edit, scratch that - half way between Binger and Gracemont where Wildcat Creek flows into Sugar Creek.

[RadicalModerate]

I would place Wilber about where current day Gracemont is.

Was this building constructed before THEY invented the "spirit level" . . . ?
Or was it the result of being plumb ignorant about the gravity of the situation?

("Dang, Miz Schoolmarm . . . Why do we hafta learn about Pythagorus . . . all that stuff messes with my self-esteem and I don't believe in dinosaurs anyways . . .")

[Martin]

Maybe across Sugar Creek from Binger then?

On edit, scratch that - half way between Binger and Gracemont where Wildcat Creek flows into Sugar Creek.

if the map is accurate, then i agree, the townsite would need to be east of sugar creek... binger is just west. i'm thinking it's no further south, though. i still hold the position that this place never actually existed in 1895 and in the best case another town may have been founded in the same vicinity. -M

[RadicalModerate]

hmmm... looking at this some more, it seems that binger is a good possibility, too. the map shows wilber as pretty much due west of minco and north and just a bit west of anadarko. gracemont is too far south to fit that and lookeba is too far north... but binger might be right on target. it was founded in 1901 and named after its first postmaster binger hermann. -M

My guess is that it was actually Hermann Binger.
(the power of the comma, once again revealed)
Perhaps his . . . brother . . . was named . . . Wilber?

[Martin]

yes... it was hermann's twin brother wilber binger. in the conservatory. with the lead pipe. it all makes sense now! -M

[RadicalModerate]

and there used to be a pond, under the lower wall of the schoolhouse, that he accidentally ran his wagon into and drowned, and the schoolhouse was erected as a monument to cover up the "accident" . . . =)

No kidding: Thanks for the informal research on this.

Now I wonder what that mysterious oval, on the map, south/southeast of Mangum means.
Not to mention that odd figure to the north/northeast of the same settlement. (on the map)

BTW: If you are ever out around Heavener (it's on the map then, and still is today) do not miss the opportunity to visit what used to be a State Park if you want to see something even more mysterious. (Again, no joke.)

[Stew]

What did wa****a county ever do to okctalk to earn such disrespect?

[RadicalModerate]

Whaddya mean "disrespect"?
It is "The Village of Many Stars" according to "Indian" Legend.

On the other hand, even when pilgrims from, say, New Jersey or New York, venture west and arrive there they always say:
"We need to shuddup and show dis respect."

[Mel]

The Entrance to K'n-yan , Yoth and N'ka is just west of Binger.

[RadicalModerate]

Scholastic rumor has it that H.P. Lovecraft once attended a seminar or séance (or whatever) at The Leaning School of Gracemont (formerly known as Wilber's Last Chance Academy).

But he was so busy sticking chewed Bazooka Bubble Gum to the bottoms of the hand-hewn desks and dipping the ponytails of the girls into the inkwells that he missed the spelling lessons. Not to mention the "revisionist history".

[Tritone]

The oval near Mangum! Yes, there's one near Garber as well. My guess is crop circles.

[Martin]

ok... i'm a map junkie. focusing back around oklahoma county...

jones and luther were mentioned upthread. jones was, in fact, originally called glaze... in 1898, it was named after c.g. jones who was an okc industrialist and railroad promoter. apparently, luther was always luther and named after luther jones, the son of the guy that jones, ok is named after. hilton only had a post office from 1896 to 1904 and was just inside lincoln county around 6 miles northeast of harrah.

some of the towns that no longer exist live on through street names. the timber reservation just west of okc was also known as council grove... you can see the town of council in the southwest corner of it. that's where council ave gets its name. north of oklahoma county, you have waterloo and seward... both "survive" in name as east/west streets north of edmond. the same is true with stella, east of moore. as you proceed east, parts of se 149th are called stella road.

the town of conception, southwest of okc, "survives" through its cemetery located near sw 44th and meridian. folks basically pass by it every day going to the airport, not knowing that it was once the cemetery of a small town. here's a picture... you can see on the sign that it says "est. 1892."

-M

[Just the facts]

...the timber reservation just west of okc was also known as council grove... you can see the town of council in the southwest corner of it. that's where council ave gets its name.

I think the town of Council, Council Grove, and Council Ave all got their name from a meeting of Indian leaders who gathered for a "council" near there.

[MsProudSooner]

Speaking of Wash!ta County, that map appears to be created before Cordell stole the County Seat from Cloud Chief.

[Larry OKC]

...On another thread, there was a little discussion involving the fact that Oklahoma was once two territories that nearly became two separate states. I went looking for a map of The State of Sequoia (Indian Territory)...

I have an old hard-bound copy of the proposed U.S. legislation creating the Indian state of Sequoia

[Tritone]

Some say the Conception Cemetery takes its name from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Chucrh on S.W. 29th between Meridian and Portland, just a couple miles NW of the cemetery. I knew some of the folks in that cemetery and went to school with their kids.

mmm, my fellow map junkie, you are so correct about many of the streets/roads, such as Richland Road and Britton Road which ran through those communities, and Newcastle Road which sort of went to Newcastle via Meridian when it still went through. Of course Czech Hall road still goes past the Czech Hall (I hope!).

Reading all these references to Oklahoma Place Names, many thanks to George Shirk. I've spent many hours armed with his book while I looked over old maps.