Historical Marker Program

No Man’s Land

Beaver County
Location: on OK-23, eight miles south of Elmwood
Coordinates: 36.501379, -100.522937
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Beaver County Historical Society and the Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Government; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The Oklahoma Panhandle, spanning 34.5 miles in width and 167 miles in length, was not attached to any US state or territory before 1890. Most maps identified it as Public Land or the Public Land Strip, but it became popularly known as No Man’s Land. The phrase referred to the fact that no one could legally own land within the Strip. Being outside any jurisdiction or any form of government, it became the home of outlaws, cowboys, and settlers. Beaver City was the largest town in the area. In 1890, Congress attached the Strip to the newly organized Oklahoma Territory, with Beaver City as the county seat. At statehood, the Panhandle was subdivided into three counties (Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver).

No Man’s Land

Beaver County
Location: on US-270/US-412/OK-3, six miles east of Slapout
Coordinates: 36.618696, -100.003836
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Beaver County Historical Society and the Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Government; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The Oklahoma Panhandle, spanning 34.5 miles in width and 167 miles in length, was not attached to any US state or territory before 1890. Most maps identified it as Public Land or the Public Land Strip, but it became popularly known as No Man’s Land. The phrase referred to the fact that no one could legally own land within the Strip. Being outside any jurisdiction or any form of government, it became the home of outlaws, cowboys, and settlers. Beaver City was the largest town in the area. In 1890, Congress attached the Strip to the newly organized Oklahoma Territory, with Beaver City as the county seat. At statehood, the Panhandle was subdivided into three counties (Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver).

No Man’s Land

Beaver County
Location: on US-64, three miles east of Gate
Coordinates: 36.838041, -100.003785
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Beaver County Historical Society and the Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Government; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The Oklahoma Panhandle, spanning 34.5 miles in width and 167 miles in length, was not attached to any US state or territory before 1890. Most maps identified it as Public Land or the Public Land Strip, but it became popularly known as No Man’s Land. The phrase referred to the fact that no one could legally own land within the Strip. Being outside any jurisdiction or any form of government, it became the home of outlaws, cowboys, and settlers. Beaver City was the largest town in the area. In 1890, Congress attached the Strip to the newly organized Oklahoma Territory, with Beaver City as the county seat. At statehood, the Panhandle was subdivided into three counties (Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver).

Original No Man’s Land

Texas County
Location: on US-54 at Texas border near Texhoma
Topics: Government; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Following admission to the Union in 1846, the state of Texas, as a slave state, ceded the "Public Land Strip" to the United States to comply with the Missouri Compromise of 1850, which forbade slavery north of 36° 30'. The area remained unorganized but was promoted as Cimarron Territory in the 1880s with some attempts to establish a government. No Man's Land became part of Oklahoma Territory on May 2, 1890.