Historical Marker Program

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Battle of Round Mountain

Payne County
Location: one mile north and 1/4 mile west of intersection of OK-18 and OK-51, four miles west of Yale
Material: Granite
Topics: American Indians; Government; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Between the landmark known as Round Mountain (Twin Mounds) to the south and a camp on Salt Creek two miles northwest, the first battle of the Civil War in Oklahoma was fought between a group of loyal Creeks under Opothleyahola and Confederate forces led by Colonel Douglas H. Cooper. Some scholars believe this engagement took place in Tulsa County.

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Booth Number One

Payne County
Location: just west of North Perkins Road in Stillwater
Topics: Government; Land Openings; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The federal government established this booth where thousands registered for the opening of the Cherokee Outlet on September 16, 1893.

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David Payne

Payne County
Location: at grave site of David Payne in Boomer Lake Park at Washington and Lakeview in Stillwater
Topics: Land Openings; Settlement Patterns; Social/Cultural

David Payne was the father of the Oklahoma Boomer movement. After his death, he was buried in Kansas. His remains were moved to Stillwater in January 1995.

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Irving’s Castle

Payne County
Location: on Mehan Road northeast of Ripley (DAR)
Sponsor(s): Daughters of the American Revolution
Topics: Arts; Natural Resources; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Writer Washington Irving camped here on October 20, 1832, in his tour of the American prairie. In his description of the campground, Irving wrote, "It reminded me of the ruin of some Moorish castle, crowning a height in the midst of a lonely Spanish landscape.

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Jim Thorpe

Payne County
Location: in Jim Thorpe Municipal Park in Yale
Topics: American Indians; Folklife; Social/Cultural; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

In 1912, Jim Thorpe won both the decathlon and pentathlon in the Olympics and was praised for his athletic prowess by the entire world. He played both professional baseball and football and is considered one of the greatest athletes of American sports history.

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Jim Thorpe

Payne County
Location: at 706 East Boston in Yale
Material: Aluminum
Topics: American Indians; Folklife; Social/Cultural; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

This was the home of the Thorpe family beginning in 1917.

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Oil in the Cushing-Drumright Area

Payne County
Location: at intersection of Adams and Harrison in Cushing
Material: Granite
Topics: Government; Industry/Business; Mass Communication; Natural Resources; Petroleum; Urban Development

In March 1912, Tom Slick and C. B. Shafer discovered oil nearby. The Cushing field became one of history's greatest oil finds. For eight years, it led the nation in oil production. The oil discovery turned Cushing into a boomtown. The post office of Cushing was established November 10, 1891. The town was named for Marshall Cushing, private secretary to Postmaster General John Wanamaker. In 1919, the Cushing-Drumright area accounted for 17 percent of the nation's oil production.

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Oklahoma Museum of Higher Education

Payne County
Location: on Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater
Topics: Government; Recreational/Service; Social/Cultural

The Oklahoma Museum of Higher Education is housed in Old Central, built in 1894, the first permanent building on the OSU campus. It is the nation's only museum devoted to a state's higher education history.

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Ripley’s Oak Park Cemetery

Payne County
Location: southeast of Ripley

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Stillwater

Payne County
Location: at Sixth Avenue and Perkins Road in Stillwater
Topics: Land Openings; Settlement Patterns; Social/Cultural; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Urban Development

Boomers, led by William C. Couch, settled nearby on Stillwater Creek in December 1884. When ordered to leave, they defied the US cavalry. In his wire for reinforcements, Lieutenant Mathias Day said, "They call this place Stillwater," the first recorded reference to a town in Oklahoma Territory. The Boomers departed, but Stillwater was settled in the first hour of the Land Run on April 22, 1889.

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Washington Irving

Payne County
Location: in the Jim Thorpe Municipal Park in Yale
Topics: Arts; Folklife; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Washington Irving camped nearby during his tour of the prairies in 1832.

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Wild Horse Creek-Washington Irving

Payne County
Location: nine miles south of Stillwater, four miles west, and one mile north of OK-33
Topics: Arts; Folklife; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Writer Washington Irving and his party camped on Wild Horse Creek during his tour of the prairies in 1832.