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| Big Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Deer Mountain | |
  Big Mountain Location of Big Mountain in Oklahoma | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,145 ft (349 m) |
| Coordinates | 34°24′55″N95°36′52″W / 34.41528°N 95.61444°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States |
| Parent range | Kiamichi Mountains |
Big Mountain is a mountain in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. It is part of the Kiamichi Mountains, a subrange of the Ouachita Mountains.
The summit of Big Mountain is 1,145 feet above sea level. It is located 5.5 miles northeast of Moyers, Oklahoma. [1] Buck Creek forms its southern limit. Pine Creek forms its northern limit. The Kiamichi River forms its eastern limit, and Kimbrough Creek forms its western limit. The mountain is considered to form the southern geographic limit of Johns Valley.
Big Mountain has also in the past been called Deer Mountain.
During World War II the area was the site of two lethal air crashes. British pilots operating from a Royal Air Force base in Texas crashed into White Rock Mountain and Big Mountain, killing four crew men. Two planes were destroyed. On February 20, 2000 the AT6 Monument was dedicated in the fliers' honor at the crash site on Big Mountain. Over 1,000 people attended the ceremony, and the story was carried by the British Broadcasting Corporation and many newspapers around the world.
Big Mountain is the entry point for a vast acreage known locally as the Kiamichi Wilderness. The Wilderness was subdivided during the 1970s and 1980s as a land development scheme. It remains highly rural and isolated. There are relatively few homes; most dwellings are cabins. Phase One of the Kiamichi Wilderness, closer to the front of the mountain, contains passable roads. Electric and telephone service extend partway into the area. Phases Two and Three, each ranging successively to the west, are progressively isolated, and Phase Three is reachable only during dry weather, when creeks may be forded.
Many of the landowners are from the Dallas, Texas area and visit on weekends. They are known locally as “weekend warriors”. The residents of Big Mountain, although living in scattered isolation, have developed a cohesive social network which has spawned regular gatherings and support ranging from Friday night rattlesnake fries to a volunteer fire department.
The only entry to the area is via the road from the Kiamichi River valley. During the Kiamichi Wilderness's early years this was controlled by a guard shack. During recent years, the entrance is monitored 24/7 by cameras and is patrolled frequently by a security officer. Land Owners and their guests are the only ones allowed on the mountain. The AT6 Monument is a short way into Phase One from the guard shack, with good roads and a directional sign allowing for easy access.
Pushmataha County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,812. Its county seat is Antlers.
Antlers is a city in and the county seat of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,221 as of the 2020 United States census. The town was named for a kind of tree that becomes festooned with antlers shed by deer, and is taken as a sign of the location of a spring frequented by deer.
Rattan is a town in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 276 at the 2020 census.
U.S. Route 271 is a north–south United States highway. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route to a tri-state route. Its southern terminus is in Tyler, Texas, at an intersection with State Highway 31 and SH 155. The highway's northern terminus is in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at an intersection with Business U.S. Route 71 and Highway 255. It enters Arkansas from Oklahoma as a controlled-access highway, but the highway continues as Interstate 540 when US 271 exits toward downtown after one-half mile (800 m) in Arkansas.
The Kiamichi River is a river in southeastern Oklahoma, United States of America. A tributary of the Red River of the South, its headwaters rise on Pine Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas border. From its source in Polk County, Arkansas, it flows approximately 177 miles (285 km) to its confluence with the Red River at Hugo, Oklahoma.
The Rincon Mountains are a significant mountain range east of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, in the United States. The Rincon Mountains are one of five mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson valley. The other ranges include the most prominent, the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north, the Santa Rita Mountains to the south, the Tucson Mountains to the west, and the Tortolita Mountains to the northwest. Redington Pass separates the Rincon Mountains from the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are generally less rugged than the Santa Catalina Mountains and Santa Rita Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are also included in the Madrean sky island mountain ranges of southeast Arizona, extreme southwest New Mexico, and northern Sonora Mexico.
Tuskahoma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, four miles east of Clayton. It was the former seat of the Choctaw Nation government prior to Oklahoma statehood. The population was 102 as of the 2020 United States census.
Moyers is an unincorporated community located in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States.
State Highway 2, abbreviated SH-2 or OK-2, is a designation for two distinct highways maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Though they were once connected, the middle section of highway was concurrent with three different U.S. highways, so the middle section was decommissioned for reasons of redundancy.
The Kiamichi Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern Oklahoma. A subrange within the larger Ouachita Mountains that extend from Oklahoma to western Arkansas, the Kiamichi Mountains sit within Le Flore, Pushmataha and McCurtain counties near the towns of Poteau, Albion and Smithville. The foothills of the Kiamichi Mountains sit within Haskell County, Northern Latimer County and Northern Pittsburg County. Its peaks, which line up south of the Kiamichi River, reach 2,500 feet in elevation. The range was the namesake of Kiamichi Country, the official tourism designation for southeastern Oklahoma, until the designation was changed to Choctaw Country.
Kosoma is a ghost town and former railroad station in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located just off Oklahoma State Highway 2, approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Antlers.
Rodney Mountain is located in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, approximately five miles northwest of Antlers, Oklahoma. It is a part of the Kiamichi Mountains, a subrange of the Ouachita Mountains, and forms its southwest-most extremity. Its summit is 767 feet above sea level. It is found at GPS coordinates 34.2984336 and −95.6410833.
Dunbar is a community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, 17 miles north of Antlers.
Honobia is an unincorporated community on the border between western LeFlore County and eastern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, 15 miles southeast of Talihina.
Jumbo is an unincorporated community in western Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, 10 miles north of Miller.
Cedar County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. The county formed part of the nation’s Apukshunnubbee District, or Second District, one of three administrative super-regions.
Johns Valley is a geographic feature and place name located in the Kiamichi Mountains in northwestern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. The valley is formally classified by geologists as a "basin" due to its complete encirclement by mountains.
The Pushmataha County Historical Society is a historical society devoted to collecting and preserving the history of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. It is headquartered in the historic Frisco Depot in Antlers, Oklahoma, which it operates as a public museum.
Tobias William Frazier, Sr. (1892–1975) was a full-blood Choctaw Indian who was a member of the famous fourteen Choctaw Code Talkers. The Code Talkers pioneered the use of American Indian languages as military code during war. Their initial exploits took place during World War I, and were repeated by other Native American tribes during World War II.
The AT6 Monument is a granite memorial to Royal Air Force cadets who were killed while on a training flight during World War II. It stands on Big Mountain, north of Moyers, Oklahoma, in the United States, and was dedicated on February 20, 2000—the 57th anniversary of the deadly crashes.