The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign independent state. In general, the tribes ceded land they occupied in exchange for land grants in 1803. The concept of an Indian Territory was an outcome of the US federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the US government was one of assimilation.
Kiowa County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,446. Its county seat is Hobart. The county was created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory. It was named for the Kiowa people.
Jackson County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,446. Its county seat is Altus. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the county was named for two historical figures: President Andrew Jackson and Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. One source states that the county was named only for the former President, while an earlier source states it was named only for General Stonewall Jackson.
Comanche County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 124,098, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Lawton. The county was created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory. It was named for the Comanche tribal nation.
Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in southwestern Oklahoma, approximately 87 mi (140 km) southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton, Oklahoma, metropolitan statistical area. According to the 2020 census, Lawton's population was 90,381, making it the sixth-largest city in the state, and the largest in Western Oklahoma.
Medicine Park is a town in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States, situated in the Wichita Mountains near the entrance to the 60,000-acre (240 km2) Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. Medicine Park has a long history as a vintage cobblestone resort town. Medicine Park is located near the city of Lawton and Fort Sill. It is an exurb, part of the Lawton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Many of the original structures are constructed of naturally formed cobblestones—these red granite cobblestones are unique to the Wichita Mountains. The population was 382 at the 2010 census.
Altus is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000.
Lone Wolf is a town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 438 at the 2010 census, a decline of 12.4 percent from 500 in 2000. The town was named for Chief Lone Wolf (1843–1923), a warrior chief of the Kiowa who fought to preserve his people's autonomy and way of life.
Mountain Park is a town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 409 at the 2010 census, a 4.9 percent increase from 390 in 2000.
Quanah Parker was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo-American who had been abducted as a nine-year-old child and assimilated into the Nokoni tribe. Following the apprehension of several Kiowa chiefs in 1871, Quanah Parker emerged as a dominant figure in the Red River War, clashing repeatedly with Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. With European-Americans hunting American bison, the Comanches' primary sustenance, into near extinction, Quanah Parker eventually surrendered and peaceably led the Kwahadi to the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-southeast trending series of rocky promontories, many capped by 500 million-year old granite. These were exposed and rounded by weathering during the Pennsylvanian & Permian Periods. The eastern end of the mountains offers 1,000 feet (305 m) of topographic relief in a region otherwise dominated by gently rolling grasslands.
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The refuge's location in the geologically unique Wichita Mountains and its areas of undisturbed mixed grass prairie make it an important conservation area. The Wichitas are approximately 500 million years old. Measuring about 59,020 acres (238.8 km2), the refuge hosts a great diversity of species: 806 plant species, 240 species of birds, 36 fish, and 64 reptiles and amphibians are present.
Lake Altus-Lugert, also known as Lake Altus, Lake Lugert, Lake Lugert-Altus, and Lugert Lake, is a reservoir located on the North Fork Red River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Altus, Oklahoma on the former site of the town of Lugert, Oklahoma. The river is the boundary between Greer County and Kiowa County, Oklahoma. The lake is used for fishing, boating, swimming, and irrigation. This is also the principal water supply for Altus.
The Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center is a resort located 17 miles north of Altus in the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma, United States. It is two and a half hours from Oklahoma City, four hours from Dallas, near the Texas border and 9 miles (14 km) west of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma on State Highway 44A.
Southwest Oklahoma is a geographical name for the southwest portion of the state of Oklahoma, typically considered to be south of the Canadian River, extending eastward from the Texas border to a line roughly from Weatherford, to Anadarko, to Duncan. Geologically, the region is defined by a failed continental rift known as the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen. The austere nature of the prairie landscape with intermittent island ranges has made it a favorable place for artists and photographers alike. For tourism purposes, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department has designated Southwestern Oklahoma as Great Plains Country, and defined it to consist of 14 counties including Roger Mills, Custer, Beckham, Washita, Caddo, Kiowa, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Comanche, Tillman, Cotton, Stephens, and Jefferson counties.
Quartz Mountain is located in Greer County in southwest Oklahoma. It is the namesake of Quartz Mountain Nature Park and its eastern flank is enclosed by the park boundaries. It is near the cities of Mangum, Oklahoma and Altus, Oklahoma. The park is open to the public year-round for rock climbing, hiking, boating, camping, nature observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation. The mountain overlooks scenic Lake Altus-Lugert.
Quartz Mountain State Park is located in southwest Oklahoma at the western end of the Wichita Mountains, 13 miles (21 km) east of Mangum, Oklahoma and 20 miles (32 km) north of Altus, Oklahoma. The nearest community is Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of the park. It is operated by Oklahoma State Park. The park began as a 158.3-acre tract adjacent to Lake Altus donated to the state by local residents, who had bought the land for $51.58. It was designated as Quartz Mountain State Park, one of the original seven Oklahoma State Parks designated in 1935. Additional land has been donated since then, and the park now encompasses 4,540 acres (18.4 km2). The park occupies land on the west side of Lake Altus-Lugert, which was originally built in 1927, then expanded in 1940 and renamed Lake Altus-Lugert. The park contains 4,284 acres (17.34 km2) of land and more than 6,000 acres (24 km2) of water.
The Geography of Oklahoma encompasses terrain and ecosystems ranging from arid plains to subtropical forests and mountains. Oklahoma contains 10 distinct ecological regions, more per square mile than in any other state by a wide margin. It is situated in the Great Plains and U.S. Interior Highlands region near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. Usually considered part of the South Central United States, Oklahoma is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, and on the south and near-west by Texas.
Lugert is an unincorporated community in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The town of Lugert was founded in 1901 on 80 acres (320,000 m2). In the town, there was a general store that housed the post office and sold dry goods, school supplies, groceries, harnesses, axes and much more. It was named for Frank Lugert, who had moved to the area in 1898. Lugert owned land where the town was sited and also owned the general store. At the peak of its prosperity the town had a bank, two hotels, two pool halls, two restaurants, a saloon and a lumberyard.
Ketch Ranch House or Ketch Ranch was private property located in the Wichita Mountains of Southwestern Oklahoma. The ranch was established as a working ranch and vacation home for Ada May Ketch and Frank Levant Ketch during the early 1920s. The Wichita Mountain ranch offered a guest house, barn, smokehouse, springhouse, and root cellar while providing outdoor experiences with horseback riding, boating, and fishing at Ketch Lake which was close proximity of 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Ketch Ranch House.
