High Plains History

[FEMALE SPEAKER]: Ok, I'm at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, and I am trying to find out where to put this. [laughs] Ok. And I'm with Sara Richter -- is it Dr.? Dr. Richter? -- and she's going to be reading four stories for High Plains History. We're going to start with Black Mesa. [DR. SARA RICHTER]: Located in far Northwestern Cimarron County in the Oklahoma panhandle Black Mesa P+9+lateau has been called the geological wonders of North America. At an elevation of four 4,972 feet, it is the highest point in Oklahoma. Here, the Rocky Mountains meet the Short Grass Prairie. This one 180 million year old basalt lava flow, 55 miles long, 600 feet thick, and one-half to eight miles wide, originated from a Colorado volcano, Piney Mountain, 65 miles north, northwest of Oklahoma. Since 1935, the location has

provided geologists... [PHONE RINGS] [INAUDIBLE BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER]: Alright, we can pick up, um

"since 1935..." [RICHTER]: Since 1935, the location has provided geologists and paleontologists rare opportunities to examine Jurassic and Triassic rocks and the dinosaur bones in them. More than eighteen tons of bones had been quarried at Black Mesa, including fossilized remains from Camptosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Brontosaurus dinosaurs. A string of Allosaurus footprints can be seen clearly a along Carrizo Creek, just north of the Mesa itself. In the 19th century, outlaws like William Coe and Black Jack Ketchum used the region as a hideout. Co and his gang built a stone fortress called "Robbers Roost," complete with a blacksmith shop, gun ports, and a piano. In those days, the panhandle was called "No Man's Land," as it lacked law enforcement or a significant population at the time, making it easy for

outlaws to avoid the long arm of the law. Once settlers, mainly cattle ranchers and coal and copper miners, arrived and demanded protection, lawlessness subsided. Ranchers did and do utilize the Mesa for grazing their stock, and, on a yearly basis, participate in roundups to separate livestock and brand calves. In 1959, Oklahoma created Black Mesa State Park. The 549 acres contain campgrounds and picnic areas, surrounded by fantastic natural rock formations, like Wedding Party, Wedding Cake, and Old Maid. Black Mesa hosts many wildlife species around Lake Etling. Much of the Mesa itself as protected as the Black Mesa Nature Preserve, established in 1991 when a private group -- the Oklahoma Nature Conservancy -- purchased 1600 acres. Sixty percent of the Mesa's top is protected, but open to hikers via an old Jeep trail.

To visit Black Mesa, drive 35 miles west of Boise City, Oklahoma, on state highway 325 to Kenton, then follow the Black Mesa signs to the park. Thanks to the Cimarron Heritage Center for contributing to this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Sarah Jane Richter in Goodwill, Oklahoma. [FEMALE SPEAKER]: Okay, we're on track two, nd this is the outlaw William Co. We're going to call this "Robbers Roost" for purposes of filing. [RICHTER]: In the 1860s, the remote Black Mesa region of the far northwestern corner of Cimarron County in the Oklahoma panhandle became the perfect outlaw hideout. At the time, settlers avoided the area because of its lack of law and inhospitable weather and terrain. Outlaws like daring William Co used to the region as a staging

ground to attack sheep and cattle herds in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, and to rob travelers on the Cimarron route of the Santa Fe trail. William Co and his band of men built their fortress atop a mesa called...[INAUDIBLE BACKGROUND CONVERSATION] [RICHTER]: William Coe and his band of men built their own fortress atop a mesa, and called it "Robbers Roost." This hideout, 16 feet by 30 feet, had impenetrable walls three feet thick, two fireplaces, no windows, two doors, plenty of gun ports, and a dirt and cottonwood tree branch roof. They even had a stolen army cannon, which kept away brave but foolhardy law man who tried to capture these lawbreakers. Five miles northwest of Robbers Roost, the crooks had a blacksmith shop in a hidden canyon, still called Blacksmith Canyon. Co, a failed California minor, provided well for

his gang -- usually 30 to 50 men -- with lots of liquor, a stolen piano, and plenty of sportin' women. In February 1867, Coe and his men stole 3400 sheep from four Mexican shepherds near Las Vegas, New Mexico. This rustling was the final straw, for the public demanded the capture of these thieves. A spy infiltrated Coe's gang and tipped off the army about the gang's next raid. The army was waiting for the outlaws. During the ensuing skirmish, some of Co's men were captured. Co himself escaped. However, he eventually met his downfall in 1868, when another informant, Mrs. Madison Emory and her son gave Coe [INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]

[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION] where to find Co. [inaudible] [RICHTER]: However, he eventually met his downfall in 1868, when another informant, Mrs. Madison Emory and her son, told the army where to find Coe to arrest him. After his capture, Co said, "I never figured to be out-generaled by a woman." Co spent his last days at a jail in Pueblo, Colorado. An outraged mob found the key to the cell, dragged Coe from the jailhouse, and lynched him from a cottonwood tree on Fountain Creek. As a warning to other outlaws, they left him dangling there for two days and then buried him on the spot. Years later, workmen preparing to pave a street in Pueblo unearthed the body of the King of Robbers Roost. Once notorious outlaws like William Coe were rounded up, decent, law-abiding citizens moved into the Oklahoma

panhandle and made homes and communities where it was safe to walk the streets and raised their children. Thanks to the Cimmaron Heritage Centre for contributing to this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Sarah Jane Richter of Goodwill, Oklahoma. [INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION] [INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION] [RICHTER]: As trade on the Santa Fe trail became economically valuable to the US, the federal government built posts along the length of the trail from Missouri to New Mexico. From these military installations, soldiers provided protection for travelers, their merchandise, and their profits. Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson and his soldiers located and constructed Fort Nichols in 1865 near Cedar Spring, in eastern New Mexico -- for there they found plenty of water, wood, stone, and grass

to support soldiers, travelers, and livestock. However, the landscapes of New Mexico and the Oklahoma panhandle look remarkably the same, Thus, Carson inadvertently built the post three miles east of the New Mexico border near Cedar Springs on Carrizo Creek in the Oklahoma panhandle. The post only saw service for four months, but while it existed, wagon trains on the Santa Fe trail gathered there, rested, made repairs, and then continued to gather west to Santa Fe or East two Missouri. Marion Sloan Russell saw the construction of Camp Nichols and wrote of in her memoirs. Camp Nichols became in a jiffy as impregnable as an old castle. It was surrounded by rock walls in a deep ditch. Inside the rock walls, the houses were half dugouts, four feet underground and four foot rock walls above ground. The only two-roomed house was a hospital. Mounted howitzers were replaced along the

walls. There were stone rooms outside the walls along the south side for the officers. A flagpole was placed near the entrance. Actually, Marion Russell spent her honeymoon at Camp Nichols. She and her husband, Lieutenant Richard Russell, lived in a tent until a nice dugout was made with a dirt floor and a dirt roof. The door was an army blanket. "Our bed was some cedar bows, nice and springy. We had a folding table and two folding camp stools." Ha, some honeymoon. All that remains of Camp Nichols today is a clear, circular depression in the ground that tells observers that walls and ditches once stood on the high plains on the far western edge of the Oklahoma panhandle. Thanks to the Cimmaron Heritage Centre for contributing to this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Sarah Jane Richter of Goodwill, Oklahoma. [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] In 1901, in High Plains history, the owner of the Hardesty Saloon decided to move his business to the flourishing town of Guymon,

Oklahoma. The situation called for enough teams and wagons to move a 26 foot by 40 foot structure. The owner agreed to pay Jim Beasley 200 dollars cash, ten cases of whiskey, and all the free drinks the men who were working on the job wanted. Beasley kindly asked Tom James to help for half of the money but none of the whiskey. Four wagons and several 30 foot trees were used to move such a structure. Finally, after a week of jacking up the building, the men decided it was time to celebrate. A dance and party were held inside the jacked up saloon. The corners had to be blocked so that the building wouldn't tilt off the wagon during the dancing. Drinks were furnished by the owner, so no one complained. Frank Talcott, the saloon owner and his brother, played their fiddles while Olin Walker played a ditty on the French harp. The party lasted from midafternoon until after breakfast the next day. Partiers brought baskets

of food while others cooked steaks over a cow chip fire. No one forgot about breakfast. Fried eggs and bacon with lots of cowboy coffee were served. Bets were made the next day on whether the saloon would make it to Guymon or not. About 500 dollars in bets were made along with a horse, and saddle and a six shooter. It took eight days for the saloon to arrive at Guymon, Oklahoma. After a dispute over lot arrangements, two weddings were held in the building as it was being placed on the foundation. Located across the street west from the present Texas County Courthouse. Obviously, since the first party was a success, the second one was called for before the saloon fixtures were moved back into the building. [inaudible] After a dispute over lot arrangements, two weddings were held in the building as it was placed on the foundation, located across the street west from the present Texas County Courthouse. Obviously, since the

first party was a success, a second one was called for before the saloon fixtures were moved back into the building. Don't worry, all bets were settled in full before they were forgotten and Guymon welcomed a new business with open arms. Thanks to Holly Stuart from Guymon, Oklahoma. [inaudible] Thanks to Holly Stuart, an English major from Guymon, Oklahoma-- [inaudible] [inaudible] Thanks to Holly Stuart, from Guymon, Oklahoma, and an English major at Oklahoma Panhandle State University for writing this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Sarah Jane Richter of Goodwill, Oklahoma. [inaudible]