Historical Marker Program

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Blackburn’s Station

Pittsburg County
Location: north of Pine Top School
Material: Granite
Topics: Government; Mass Communication; Transportation; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

In 1857, Congress created the Butterfield Overland Mail Route to carry mail and passengers between St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, and points west. It was the first real transcontinental link between the Atlantic states and the Pacific Coast of the United States. There were twelve stations along a 197-mile route in Oklahoma, including Blackburn's Station.

Note: This marker was reported missing.

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Carl Albert

Pittsburg County
Location: on North A Street in McAlester
Material: Granite
Topics: Government; Industrial Period, 1841–1892; Recreational/Service; Social/Cultural

Educated in a one-room schoolhouse at Bugtussle, Carl Albert became the highest-ranking Oklahoman ever to serve in the federal government. A Rhodes scholar, Albert was a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from Oklahoma's Third Congressional District and rose to the position of Speaker of the House.

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Choctaw-Chickasaw Woman’s Missionary Union

Pittsburg County
Location: at the intersection of Monroe Street and Strong Boulevard in McAlester (OBHC)
Topics: American Indians; Religion/Philosophy; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

Baptist women's work in Oklahoma began in 1876 with the organization of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Woman's Missionary Union.

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Cutthroat Gap Massacre

Pittsburg County
Topics: American Indians; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

The Cutthroat Gap Massacre site is approximately 2.5 miles east of this marker. In the early summer of 1833, the summer before "The Stars Fell", an Osage war party attacked an undefended Kiowa camp. The camp of Islandman A'D'Ate, Principal Chief of the Kiowa, consisted of women, children, the elderly, and a few warriors. Most of the warriors were on a raid against the Utes while others were hunting buffalo. The Osage tracked Islandman's band from Saddle Mountain through the mountains to the camp site.

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Hughes Ranch

Pittsburg County
Location: on OK-31 near Blocker
Topics: Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Ranching; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The J.R. Hughes Ranch was founded in 1904 and occupied more than 25,000 acres where up to 4,000 head of cattle grazed. The ranch began when Hughes unloaded 3,000 cattle at Reams Switch in Indian Territory and turned them out into the open range. The ranch is now known as the James M. Collins Wildlife Management Area.

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J. E. Wright

Pittsburg County
Location: on US-69 at south edge of Savanna
Material: Aluminum
Topics: Recreational/Service; Social/Cultural; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Urban Development

J.E. Wright opened the first permanent dental office in Indian Territory in Savanna in 1885. He was co-founder of the Indian Territory Dental Association.

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J. R. Hughes Ranch

Pittsburg County
Location: on SH-31 near Blocker
Topics: Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Natural Resources; Ranching; Recreational/Service; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Transportation

Historically known as the J. R. Hughes Ranch, the James M. Collins Wildlife Management Area occupies over 25,000 acres. At its zenith, 4,000 head of cattle grazed the land enclosed by more than 125 miles of fence. The Hughes Ranch began in 1904 when J. R. Hughes unloaded 3,000 Texas steers at Reams Switch in Indian Territory and drove them onto the open range. The Hughes family accumulated lands near Featherston and developed what became the largest ranch in the region.

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Senator Gene Stipe

Pittsburg County
Location: on Stipe family home place on Peacable Mountain north of Blanco, south of McAlester
Material: Granite
Topics: Government; Industrial Period, 1841–1892; Recreational/Service; Social/Cultural

When he retired in 2003, Gene Stipe had served in a state legislature longer than anyone else in American history. He was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1948 and moved to the State Senate in 1957, serving as the senior member of that body for many years.