Oklahoma Genealogy

Vinita, the county seat of Craig County, is located southeast of the center of the county at the intersection of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway with the Frisco. Mr. D. M. Marrs, an old citizen, and for many years editor of the Vinita Leader gives the following sketch of the origin and growth of the city. “A generation ago, or to be more explicit, in the fall of 1869, there might have been seen struggling through the rank underbrush, or toiling through the tall prairie grass, a party of men locating a route for a railroad along the line…

Craig County has an area of 775 square miles of land, mostly level prairie land, nearly all of it being of first class agricultural soil. During the years gone by, great quantities of prairie hay were cut each year and much of it shipped to northern markets. Some of the largest and most prosperous cattle ranches were formerly located in this section of the state, but when lands were allotted to the Indians and cut up into small farms, a much greater portion of the land was put into cultivation, and, as a result, the immense pastures disappeared and the…

Their first tribal councils after arriving at their new Indian Territory were, by common consent, held in the vicinity of the present site of Tahlequah, on account of the beautiful natural surroundings and the numerous sparkling springs which bubbled up from the level ground on all sides, but in the Autumn of 1841 the Cherokee National Council enacted a law making Tahlequah the capital of the Cherokee Nation, and it continued to be their capital, their principal town and their principal public meeting place from that date until the final dissolution of the tribal government. Their first council house and…

As stated elsewhere, John Ross died while on a trip to Washington, D. C., in August, 1866, and was buried at the old home of his second wife, near Wilmington, Del., but his body was soon taken back to his old home and buried near Park Hill. Upon the occasion of his burial at the latter place, his gifted nephew, William P. Ross, who succeeded him as chief, delivered an eloquent, oration before the Cherokee council at Tahlequah, a portion of which was as follows, taken from the little book “The Life and Times of Hon. William P. Ross” “My…

The Oklahoma State Home for the orphan children of the state is located on a 550 acre tract of land adjoining the town of Pryor Creek. This is one of the state’s best institutions and represents an investment of $350,000. The institution is complete in every respect. Besides the administration building, there are eight brick cottages which house from 25 to 35 children each, a well equipped hospital, being a two-story brick building, a commissary, garage, laundry, power plant and a nice new two-story brick school building which is so situated that it is completely surrounded by the other buildings…