Timeline

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  • 300 million years ago Wichita Mountains form

  • 15,000 years ago Columbian mammoths roam prairie

  • 1834 First official meeting between United States and Indians of Southern Plains occurs north of present-day Altus

  • 1860 Texas organizes present-day Southwest Oklahoma as Greer County, Texas

  • 1876 First longhorns driven up Western Trail

  • 1886 Frazer (forerunner of Altus) founded

  • 1896 Greer County, Texas, becomes Greer County, Oklahoma Territory

  • 1901-1904 Altus known as "Leger," in deference to Orient Railroad

  • 1927 Lugert Dam completed on North Fork of Red River

  • 1943 Altus Army Air Field begins operation during World War II--reactivated (1953) as Altus Air Force Base

  • 1947 W C Austin Project completes new dam at Lake Lugert, resulting in modern lake and Lugert-Altus Irrigation District

  • 1970 Museum of the Western Prairie opens

Last reviewed: 2004-Jan-21