Volume 4 Article 4 Issue 4 Summer

7-15-1985 The rP e-History of Central and Western Oklahoma Stanley Bussey

Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/westview

Recommended Citation Bussey, Stanley (1985) "The rP e-History of Central and Western Oklahoma," Westview: Vol. 4 : Iss. 4 , Article 4. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/westview/vol4/iss4/4

This Nonfiction is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Westview by an authorized administrator of SWOSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA The Pre-History Of Central And Western Oklahoma by Stanley Bussey A s late as the early 1920’s, it was generally /■ assumed that the American Indians had entered JL the continent about the time of Christ, perhaps replacing earlier immigrants from Egypt of Phoenicia. Some groups, the Apache for example, were believed to be relative latecomers to the scene, Mongol refugees from Genghiz Khan or one of his descendants. Ar- WESTVIEVV, Summer 1985 chaeologists were gradually filling in It includes many groups of hunters sites, theJohnson-Cline and the Shores the picture of human occupation of w-ho lived around the end of the archaeological sites, are in Texas North America; however, there were Pleistocene and hunted Ice Age animals County. These sites are camp areas in few archaeologists, and they were before they became extinct. These sand dunes and show long occupations. hampered by the lack of good dating animals included mammoth, several Beginning w-ith the late Paleo-Indian techniques. species of large bison, wild horses, Plainview- and extending into the In 1926, a geologist excavating the and camels to name the most common. Plains Village period, both sites appear remains of extinct Pleistocene bison All of the groups of this period used to have some stratification. Bat Cave, near Folsom, New Mexico, found assemblages of stone tools developed in Cimmaron County, may contain stone spear points with the bison for killing and processing large game, Paleo-Indian material. bones and suddenly quintupled the although the animals emphasized length of time humans were known to vary through time. ARCHAIC PERIOD have been in the Americas. Later While interpreting archeological During the entire Paleo-Indian work pushed the earliest date of data, archeologists rely heavily on period, the climate of the area had human occupation back even further, distinctive artifacts that have a res­ been gradually changing, becoming and some archaeologists feel we have tricted distribution in time and space warmer and drier. For reasons not not yet finished with this task. -the “diagnostic” artifacts. In the fully understood, many species of This summary may give the im­ Paleo-Indian period, most of the diag­ animals (elephants, camels, and several pression that we know more about nostic artifacts are flaked stone spear varieties of bison) became extinct in Oklahoma's prehistoric past than we points. Other tools, which are not as North America. Others (musk ox, really do. Of necessity it ignores the distinctive, include flaked stone some large bison, and perhaps horse) confusion and controversy that exist scrapers, choppers, and knives; bone shifted north where they survived in about most major aspects of the awls and needles; and shell and stone smaller numbers. Byt the end of the human past in Oklahoma. In fact, our beads. Paleo-Indian period, the climate and task is like trying to assemble a Archaeologists divide the Paleo-In­ the plants and animals of the area jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces dian material of the Southwestern were essentially modern in character. missing-we think we know what the Plains into tw-o complexes. The Llano The only major herd animals left picture is. but we still don't know- complex, marked by Clovis and Folsom were bison, and they tended to stay in many of the details. points, is earlier (roughly 10,000 B.C. the north during dry periods. -7,500 B.C.) and is found with the From about 6,000 B.C. to about THE PRE-PROJECTILE POINT HORIZON remains of extinct animals species. A.D. 300, people of several local There is good evidence for humans The Plano artifact complex, marked Archaic traditions roamed restricted in North America 12,000 years ago by such point types as Plainview, territories in Central and Western and fair evidence for occupation as Midland, Eden, Scottsbluff, and Me- Oklahoma, gradually becoming more early as 14.000 years ago. Some ar­ serve/Dalton, is later and is found efficient at exploiting the resources of cheologists believe that human occu­ with mixtures of extinct and modem their own areas. Artifact distributions pation in the Americas is much older, animals. reflect the smaller territories used by perhaps as much as 100.000 years. One characteristic of the period is Archaic groups. Artifact types, espe­ Evidence for these very early occupa­ that artifact types are spread over cially spear points, are spread over tions is shaky, and most professional broad areas, suggesting the people much smaller areas than previously archaeologists are skeptical; but followed herds across the plains and and the use of imported rock is much before the Folsom discoveries, the prairies without any particular terri­ less common. same thing could be said about the torial restrictions. In general, the Hunting patterns changed from an belief that humans lived here in the Paleo-Indian way of life probably emphasis on large herd animals (horse, late Pleistocene. resembled that of the bison-hunting camel, bison) to an emphasis on The Pre Projectile Point Horizon is a peoples the Spanish found on the smaller, more solitary animals (deer, period created to include all of the Southwestern Plains in A.D. 1541. turkey, squirrel, racoon). Fishing was very early evidence. No sites of this Three National Register sites in added to the inventory of skills, and period have been identified in Oklahoma. Oklahoma date from this period. The vegetable foods became much more Cedar Creek site in Washita County important than in the Paleo-Indian PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD probably is the oldest. This site, period. This period, which began sometime exposed in creek banks, covers about Spear points of the Archaic tend to between 12,000 and 10.000 years ago. 3.360 acres and includes hearths and be large and crudely flaked. Most includes the best documented early other camp evidence as well as mam­ types have stems or tangs formed by evidence of hunters in North America. moth and bison bones. The other two side-or-comer notching or by indenting b WESTYIEW, Summer 1985 the sides of the base. The tool inventory Artifacts of this period include far, the Washita River is the best continues to include a variety of plain and cord-marked pottery, stone known. Our knowledge of the others chipped knives, scrapers, drills and pipes, arrow points (indicating the is marginal at best, and it is likely choppers. Grinding stones for pro­ introduction of the bow), and shell that some distinctive regional variants cessing seeds and other vegetable and flaked stone hoes. This period is have not yet been identified. foods appear. Ground stone tools and very poorly known in Central and It is probable that the origins of ornamentsgradually become more Western Oklahoma. Because the many of the historic Indian tribes of common. domesticated plants grown by Wood­ the Southern Plains are traceable to About A.D. 300, pottery-making land peoples--corn, squash, and sun­ local variants of the village farming part-time farmers of the Woodland flowers-should have provided a more sites, but fewdefiniteconclusions tradition began moving into the area stable food base than hunting and have been reached at this time. along stream valleys. However, the gathering alone, we would expect to In the historic period, there was Archaic tradition remained important find sedentary villages with Woodland considerable cultural confusion in the in Central and Western Oklahoma for artifacts, but no definite villages have area as new groups moved in and several centuries and probably con­ been found. older groups began moving around. tinued to exist locally until the historic Of the National Register sites, This process actually began late in period. Woodland occupation is found only in the prehistoric period when northern Because of the complexity of Okla­ the Three Entrance Cave District in groups, probably Plains Apaches, homa’s Archaic cultures, the lack of Cimarron County. began moving down into the Panhandle dense occupations, and the suscepti­ from Colorado and Kansas. These bility of Archaic sites to damage by THE VILLAGE FARMING PERIOD peoples are represented archaeologi- European farming methods, archae­ These cultures were more successful cally by the Antelope Creek cultures. ologists have not made as much and more widespread than the earlier Of the Village Farming cultures, progress in defining local Archaic Woodland tradition. Although there the Washita River and the Panhandle traditions as might be desired. were regional variations, they shared are best represented on the National Both the Johnson-Cline and the a number of general characteristics. Register. Washita River sites include Shores National Register sites have These include the use of permanent the McLemore site in Washita County, evidence of Archaic occupations. Bat houses in sedentary villages, the bow, the Jewett site in Grady County, and Cave probably contains Archaic ma­ pottery, ground stone axes, and hoes the Lamb-Miller and Goodwin-Baker terial. Other National Register sites made of bison shoulder blades. Beans, sites, in Roger Mills County. Panhandle with remains of this period include an important protein supplement, sites include the Nash Il-Clawson the Red Ghost Cave and Three En­ appeared early in the period. There is site, the Two Sisters site, and the trance Cave sites in Cimarron County, some evidence of warfare, and some Stamper site in Texas County, the the three sites of the Gore Pit District late villages are protected by stockades. Sharps Creek Crossing or Roy Smith in Comanche County, and the East- At least four distinctive local tradi­ site in Beaver County. The Johnson- erwood site in Texas County. tions-the Custer, the Washita River, Cline and Shores sites in Texas the Henrietta, and the Panhandle-are County may also have Panhandle THE WOODLAND PERIOD found in Oklahoma, though the last remains. The Woodland tradition, the first two are more common in Texas. Four National Register sites-the farming tradition, was established in Villages tend to be on the heights Allee site in Roger Mills County, the the Eastern United States by 1000 above stream valleys, and farming Billy Rose and Lonker sites in Beaver B.C. In many places, the Woodland probably was done in the valleys. County, and the Beagley-Stinson tradition was a continuation of the The Panhandle groups show some sites in Harper County--are of the local Archaic traditions, with the evidence of influence from the Puebloan general village farming tradition style addition of pottery, burial mounds Southwest, especially in the houses. but have not been identified by local and other earthworks, and the use of Panhandle houses include both single variant. some domesticated plants. Farming and multiple room with sunken floors HISTORIC PERIOD does not appear to have replaced the and foundations of vertical stone The historic period saw the end of existing hunting and gathering econ­ slabs. The other Plains Village cultures the village farming tradition as well omy, but to have supplemented it. A used single room square or rectangular as the end of any Archaic remnants simplified version of the Woodland houses with thatched roofs supported that might have survived in Western tradition reached Eastern Oklahoma by four support posts and walls of Oklahoma, but the changes occurred about the time of Christ and had branches and clay. Storage pits scat­ without European observers and were spread along drainages into Central tered around houses were common. unrecorded. Many factors seem to Oklahoma by A.D. 300. Of the four traditions identified so continued on page 28 WEST VIEW, Summer 1985 7 continued from page 7 Six National Register sites are of rocks used to anchor tipi bases). have been involved. Although European this historic period. The Longest site, Other sites contain historic rock art. presence was largely absent, the in Jefferson County, was a fortified Finally, the Goodwin-Baker site in Village Farmers probably were, ulti­ Taovayas Wichita village attacked by Roger Mills County, which also has a mately, the victims of European Colonel Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla in Village Farmer occupation, has evi­ actions. One factor may have been the 1759 in retaliation for an earlier dence of a historic occupation that spread of European diseases, especially Wichita raid on the San Saba mission. may be Plains Apachean. smallpox, and a mutated syphillis. The Edwards site, in Beckham County, These sites are only a few of many From the south, west and north, the is a fortified farming village of un­ in Oklahoma. Many sites are still addition of domesticated horses in­ known affiliation. The Little Deer unrecorded and many have not been creased mobility and expanded the site, in Custer County, is also of adaquately investigated. There will parameters of warfare. From the unknown affiliation, but has Plains always be questions to be answered south, east and west, dislocations of Apachean affinities. The Cedar Breaks by archeological research, but only by peoples responding to French and Archaeological District in Cimmaron awareness and action can we preserve Spanish actions probably were a County includes three sites, one of the resource necessary to answer factor. which includes tipi rings (rings of these questions. 18>'

continued from p. 26 SILO-AN UNORDINARY silo’s main roof. To further keep the the long abandoned arristras stimu­ IN NOVA TION IN WOOD elements on the exterior of the building, lated interest in this particular area, Twenty miles southeast of Arnett, the builder clad the entire structure but because of government interest in the Davison Silo, constructed over 60 with tongue and groove siding. Origi­ the same locale an order was given for years ago, along with a two-story log nally, the joints were covered with all to quit the premises. Meers, named house, is evidence that the owner, sheet metal mouldings where the roof after Col. A. J. Meers, relocated to a Francis Davison was considered no panels changed planes (or direction). site north of the original location and ordinary man. He held a deep interest Most of these pieces have rusted or soon boasted the usual assortment of in wildlife conservation and raised blown away, and where shingles are hotels, cafes, stores, blacksmith shops, countless quail, prairie chicken, and missing many holes are now appearing saloons, and churches. In 1903 the wild turkey on his ranch. In 1921, he in the roof. But in spite of its deter­ newspapers continued boasting of the reintroduced buffalo to the ranch ioration, the silo is basically sound mining activity in the area. By 1907 it under an agreement with the Wichita and standing proud. was all over and miners and prospectors Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Innovation, expertise, function and were moving on to greener fields or The buffalo roundups were always ingenuity were words used at the settling on the newly opened land as popular with his visitors but no one beginning of this article. These words farmers or ranchers. was ever allowed to take aim at any of were applied to the actions of our A STORE BUILDING-ALL THAT the game, in season or out. early-day businessmen, farmers, min­ REMAINS OF MEERS Perched on its foundation of concrete ers, and builders as they created the The unpainted, vertical, board and is Davison’s fourteen-sided (6 feet to built environment. Sometimes by batten covered wood frame, false each side) Silo (see front cover). trial and error, many times with fronted, ramshackle building is almost Constructed of 2 x 4’s laid flat ex­ materials at hand, and most times enhanced by the metal soft drink pressing individuality and structural with grit, guts, and persistance, these advertising signs. It has been used as integrity. Thirty-six feet tall, the achievements are today marvels to a drug store, general store, grocery structure is capped with pitched behold. The structures introduced store, post office, living quarters, art shingled roof planes. The roof proper here are barely representative of the gallery, meeting place, and cafe. is ornamented with a cupola having multitude that existed and were Meers remains a memorial to the 14 small windows and, repeated again, every bit as important in the devel­ Wichita Mountains “Gold Rush” of a tiny shingled roof of 14 sections opment of Western Oklahoma. the early 1900's and to the mystique topped with a 5 foot wood pole. of vast underground riches which On the south side of the silo is a feed hangs over the entire region since the chute, crafted with similar workman­ first Spaniards came this way from Mexico ship and care. Capping the chute is a three centuries before. wall dormer which ties back into the 28 WESTVIEW, Summer 1985