Murray County, Oklahoma
A County of the OKGenWeb/USGenWeb ® Project
Hello, and welcome to the Murray County OKGenWeb site.
My name is
Rebecca
Maloney and I am the Host of this
website. If you have questions about or additions to this
site, please drop us a line. With your help, this page
will become a great site for the history and genealogy of
the south-central Oklahoma region.
Sulphur, the county seat, was originally called Sulphur Springs for the bromide and sulphur waters that attracted thousands of people to the area early in the century. The Arbuckle Mountains, Turner Falls and the Chickasaw National Recreational Area, including the 2,400-acre Lake of the Arbuckles, have made Murray County a leading tourist attraction. For a hundred years after the Louisiana Purchase, the area that became Oklahoma was called Indian Territory. More than fifty tribes and bands were voluntarily or forcibly relocated to this area. The Choctaw and Chickasaw located in the area that became Murray County.
With the Treaty of 1855, the Chickasaw finally received a nation with defined boundaries. The Nation was divided into "districts" named Panola, Pontotoc, Tishomingo and Pickens. Murray county was a part of Tishomingo and Pickens District.
Murray County did not exist until it was decided to name a county after "Alfalfa" Bill Murray, the president of the constitutional convention for the new state of Oklahoma and later governor. The counties of Johnston, Pontotoc, Garvin and Carter did exist in the proposed State of Sequoyah. To honor Murray, it was decided to take the corners of the four counties and make a new county named for Bill Murray. Alfalfa county, OK is also named after him.
Murray County became the third smallest County on 16th Nov. 1907 Oklahoma became the 46th State. The County seat is Sulphur, located in the south-central section of the State, in the 1,000 square mile Arbuckle Mountains, and Platt National Park / Chickasaw National Recreation Area. It is bounded by Garvin & Pontotoc Counties on the North; Johnson County on the Southeast; and Carter County to the Southwest.
Sulphur,
Oklahoma is located at the foot of the Arbuckle Mountains, on both the
Santa Fe and the Frisco railroad lines. Many Indian legends and traditions
are recounted in connection with the springs, that surround the county.
The Indians knew of "Medicine Springs." Kickapoo Chiefs had
taken their sick to the springs for 500 years. This would have been 41
years before
The earliest date mentioning Sulphur was about 1867. In a report by George Conover, a member of the 6th United States Infantry, was going from Ft. Smith to Ft. Arbuckle when the group camped between present-day Sulphur and Davis. Cholera brOKe out and 18 men died. They were buried in shallow graves without coffins. He said there was not a house between Stonewall and Ft. Arbuckle.
In
1878, a Chickasaw rancher named Noah Lael built his ranch house near the
present park headquarters.
The first store was established about 1885 and the town, named Sulphur
Springs, began to develop. The U.S. Post Office was established on Oct.2,
1895.
In 1902 the government secured about 700 acres from the Chickasaws and
called the area "Sulphur Springs Reservation." The town had to
move, with the government paying the expenses. Some moved out of the park
area to the north on a hill on east side of Rock Creek.
In 1904, the Sulphur Springs Reservation was changed to Platt National
Park, named for U.S. Senator Orville H. Platt who sponsored the bill for
the park. The town boasted over 4,000 population at time of statehood in
1907. The next year, the Oklahoma
School for the Deaf was established in East Sulphur. In
1921, the Oklahoma Veteran's Hospital was established at the southwest
corner of Platt National Park. Sulphur
Springs became the health resort of Oklahoma and the Nation.
What is now known as Oklahoma became a part of the Arkansas Territory in 1819, but the relevant history dates from 1866 when the Indian tribes ceded the West part of their domain to the United States. Oklahoma land was not opened to white settlement until 1889. The Indian Territory (about the Eastern one-third of present day Oklahoma) was not officially organized. Oklahoma became a Territory in 1890 and a state in 1907. The first Oklahoma Census taken in 1900 consisted of two separate census - one of Oklahoma Territory and one of Indian Territory. Here is a brief history on Murray County Oklahoma
Arbuckle (Ft. Arbuckle) baseball team - 1919.
A listing of the latest additions, with links, to the most recently added files since you last visited.
MAIN MENU BOARD
Books, Newspapers, Newsletters
Cemetery Registries
of Murray County
Church Records of Murray County
Indian Pioneer Papers-Murray County
Lawmen and Outlaws of Chicksaw Nation
Military Records and Vital Records
Murray County Queries (Old)
Murray County Vital Record Addresses
Myths, Legends & Stories
Notables of the Chickasaw Nation
Murray County Obituaries A-K | L-Z
Odds and Ends Some strange stuff.
Penny Postcards from Murray County OK
Photos of Murray County Oklahoma
Photos / Family Pages
/ Water & Bridges
Platt National Park
- CNRA
Populated Places in Murray County
Search The Murray County Site
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| search engine by freefind |
| Garvin County | Pontotoc County | |
| Murray County | ||
| Carter County | Johnston County |
Communities in Murray County History
| Buckhorn | Big Canyon | Chigley |
| Crusher | Davis | Denny |
| Dougherty | Drake | Falls Creek |
| Gilsonite | Goose Nest | Hickory |
| Iona | Joy | Nebo |
| Number 2 | Oak Grove | Others |
| Palmer | Scullin | Sorghum Flat |
| Sulphur | Sulphur Springs, I. T. | |
| Turner Falls | Washita | White Mound |
Murray County, OK Census lookups
Candace Gregory has volunteered to do lookups for the various census
not listed on this website. You can email her your question by clicking HERE.
Other Genealogy Links
USGenWeb ®
Archives for Oklahoma (Has vital records, genealogical records and more)
USGenWeb ® Special Projects (Has many topics organized by State and County)
Oklahoma County Formation Maps
SULPHUR TIMES DEMOCRAT - Newspaper - online.
TOWNSHIP MAP - MURRAY COUNTY
MAPS of Indian Territory - 1820 - 1907.
The Chickasaw Nation covers all or parts of the following counties:
| Bryan | Carter | Coal | Garvin | Grady | Jefferson | Johnston | Love | Marshall
McClain | Murray | Pontotoc | Stephens |
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DISCLAIMER:
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© 2000 - by Dennis Muncrief for use by OKGenWeb Project
Oklahoma State Coordinator: Linda Simpson
Oklahoma Asst State Coordinator: Mel Owings
Murray County Coordinator:
Rebecca
Maloney
