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.