Historical Marker Program

California Trail

McClain County
Location: at intersection of OK-59 and US-77 in Wayne
Coordinates: 34.913483, -97.310517
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: Military; Settlement Patterns; Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Gold seekers in the rush for California traveled this route in the spring of 1849 under a military escort under the command of Captain R. B. Marcy. Their route commenced west from Fort Smith along the south banks of the Arkansas and Canadian rivers across present Oklahoma. A campsite and spring three miles west of this marker were well known on the trail.

Camp Arbuckle

McClain County
Location: on OK-59 one mile west of Byars
Coordinates: 34.883452, -97.071545
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Topics: American Indians; Military; Settlement Patterns; Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Camp Arbuckle was established in May 1850 by Captain R. B. Marcy and Company D, 5th Infantry. The site was visited in 1849 by Marcy while escorting gold seekers to California. The post was moved in 1851 to a permanent site in present Garvin County. Buildings were then occupied by Delawares under Black Beaver. A Delaware town known as Beaversville existed there until the Civil War.

Note: This marker could not be located and is presumed to no longer exist.