Oklahoma Genealogy

Miami, the county seat and principal business center of Ottawa County, is located in the southern part of the county, near the Neosho River. It is a clean, pretty city of about seven thousand population, having all the modern conveniences, including paved streets, cement sidewalks electric lights natural gas, an abundant, supply of good water, first class hotels, handsome brick business blocks and a live Chamber of Commerce composed of 400 active business men. Miami was one of the first towns in Indian Territory in which complete titles to lots could be secured. On the third day of March, 1891,…

To Mr. J. P. McNaughton belongs the credit of first finding ore in paying quantities in Ottawa County. He had married a member of the Peoria tribe and was engaged in farming when, as early as 1877, he began prospecting for lead and zinc. He secured a special permit from Carl Schurz, then secretary of the interior, to prospect but was not permitted to sell any ore, because of the restrictions which the Government had placed on Indian lands. Soon after the lands were allotted to the Indians, McNaughton secured a number of mineral leases, formed a company called The…

Quapaw The Quapaw were one of the most prominent of these rapidly disappearing tribes to find a home among the Cherokees. They were an offshoot of the once famous Sioux family and early history connects them with the, mound builders. They were encountered by De Soto and his band of adventurers as early as 1540. During the early part of the 16th century, they migrated from their eastern home and settled on the west bank of the Mississippi River, within the limits of the present State of Arkansas. There they were visited by the French Missionary, Jacques Marquette, in June,…

Ottawa County, located in the northeastern corner of the State of Oklahoma, is one of the most important counties of the state, both from an agricultural and mineral standpoint, and its history is unique and interesting. It has been the home of members of a greater number of Indian tribes than any other county in the United States, and strange to say, it has borne the reputation of having been one of the most peaceful, law-abiding communities, inhabited anywhere by the Indian race. Many years ago, the United States Government, by treaties with the Cherokee Nation, obtained permission to locate…

Delaware The Town of Delaware is located on the Iron Mountain Railroad about five miles north of Nowata. It, too, has profited by the discovery of oil and natural gas and is now a prosperous little city of 1000 people. It has built up a good public school system, including a good high school department, ten public school teachers being employed. It maintains several churches and Sunday schools, and has several civic clubs which are a credit to the town. Delaware has two banks, a system of waterworks and a number of stores, some of which furnish supplies for the…

Nowata has seven churches, representing an investment of $130,000, which are served by able ministers. The churches exercise a wider and deeper uplifting influence than the average church of the modern day. They represent a membership of over fifteen hundred, an average Sunday morning attendance of over twelve hundred and a Sunday school attendance of over one thousand. Nowata has a live Rotary Club, devoting most of its energies toward Boys’ Work, a hustling Lions’ Club, whose activities are along the lines of civic improvements, a large Community Club composed of citizens not only of the City of Nowata, but…