Historical Marker Program

Black Beaver

Caddo County
Location: on US-62 in the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians in Anadarko
Coordinates: 35.072351, -98.228770
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Black Beaver, Delaware frontier scout, served as the interpreter for the US Dragoon Expedition to the Plains Indians in 1834. He was awarded the rank of captain and helped guide expeditions through Indian Territory, including Captain Randolph Marcy’s expedition in 1849. Black Beaver was buried near his home northwest of Anadarko. In 1975 the Delaware reinterred his body on the Fort Sill Military Reservation.

Note: This marker no longer exists.

Britton School

Caddo County
Location: on OK-152 five miles east of Binger
Coordinates: 35.306193, -98.244456
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Ramona Rich
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Education

Britton School was established in 1911 and originally known as Science Hill. Its name was changed to Britton School in honor of a pioneer family. A church located at the same site served as a grade school. The school closed in 1950.

Fort Cobb

Caddo County
Location: on OK-9 in Fort Cobb
Coordinates: 35.096001, -98.436155
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Military; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Established October 1, 1859, Fort Cobb was manned by US soldiers to protect the Wichita, Chickasaw, and white settlers from raids by the Comanche and other Plains tribes. The United States abandoned the post in May 1861, and it was vacant for much of the Civil War. The fort served as temporary headquarters for General W. B. Hazen, General Philip H. Sheridan, and Colonel George Armstrong Custer in 1868. The US Army abandoned Fort Cobb in March 1869.

Fort Cobb

Caddo County
Location: on OK-9 in Fort Cobb
Coordinates: 35.094214, -98.435924
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Military; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Established October 1, 1859, Fort Cobb was manned by US soldiers to protect the Wichita, Chickasaw, and white settlers from raids by the Comanche and other Plains tribes. The United States abandoned the post in May 1861, and it was vacant for much of the Civil War. The fort served as temporary headquarters for General W. B. Hazen, General Philip H. Sheridan, and Colonel George Armstrong Custer in 1868. The US Army abandoned Fort Cobb in March 1869.

Riverside School

Caddo County
Location: on US 281 near entrance to Riverside School, north of Anadarko
Coordinates: 35.096102, -98.244276
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Education; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Established by Alfred J. Standing on September 23, 1871, east of Fort Cobb on the Washita River, the Riverside Indian School became a highly successful boarding school for Wichita and Caddo children. Fire destroyed the original building in 1878, but the school was rebuilt nearby. It is one of the oldest federally operated Indian schools in continuous operation in the nation.

Rock Mary

Caddo County
Location: on US-281, one mile south of Main Street in Hinton
Coordinates: 35.463136, -98.357502
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Folklore/Folklife; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

A prominent landmark on the California Road. On May 23, 1849, Lieutenants M.P. Harrison and J.H. Simpson climbed the landmark to raise the US flag as part of an expedition under Captain Randolph Marcy escorting emigrants through Indian Territory. They named the rock for emigrant Mary Conway, establishing a landmark for thousands of settlers moving westward.

Note: This marker no longer exists.

Rock Spring Baptist Church

Caddo County
Location: on US-281, four miles north of Anadarko
Coordinates: 35.131775, -98.251327
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission
Topics: American Indians; Religion/Philosophy; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Rock Spring Baptist Church was organized in 1874 by Rev. John McIntosh, missionary to the Plains tribes under the auspices of the Creek Baptist Association. It was the first Baptist church established among Plains Indians in Oklahoma.

Steen’s Buttes

Caddo County
Location: at junction of OK-66 and US-281, four miles north of Hinton
Coordinates: 35.535950, -98.351011
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Okahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Exploring parties saw these natural mounds and named them for Major Enoch Steen of the First Dragoon Regiment, who commanded an escort on a road survey to California in 1858 under the direction of Lt. Edward F. Beale. The easternmost of the mounds is named Rock Mary.

Note: This marker no longer exists.

Washita School/Washita, Oklahoma

Caddo County
Location: near junction of E1320 Rd and County Street 2605, six miles northwest of Anadarko
Coordinates: 35.102758, -98.345936
Material: Other
Sponsor(s): Washita School Teachers and Students
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Education; Government

A post office was established in Washita on April 16, 1910, taking its name from the nearby Washita River. From 1923 to 1955, area students were educated in a two-story red brick building. A gray stone gymnasium, built by the Works Progress Administration in 1939, was home to the Washita Eagles. The gymnasium was torn down in 1996.

Wichita Agency

Caddo County
Location: on US-62, eight miles west of Anadarko
Coordinates: 35.049082, -98.339223
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Government; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

This first Indian agency opened by the federal government in western Oklahoma began operations in 1859 on the site of an abandoned Kichai village. Agents controlled relations with the Wichitas and exiled tribes from Texas, including Caddo, Anadarko, Tawakoni, Waco, and Ionie. During the American Civil War, Union-aligned Indian forces destroyed the agency on the night of October 23, 1862, and massacred the Tonkawa tribe the following morning. The agency moved to Anadarko after the Civil War.

Note: This marker no longer exists.