Atoka, Indian Territory Cover And Letter

This cover and letter was sent from, The Indian Citizen publishing Co.
Atoka, Indian Territory May 12, 1902. Indian territory became the state of Oklahoma Nov. 16, 1907.

Very nice cancel,wow!

Does anyone know of a reference source that would list the post offices that would have been using postmarks that listed the town as being in "Indian Territory", as in the really nice Atoka one above?

Jim Forte's website has the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory combined under Oklahoma, thus the need to know counties.

The annual U.S. Official Postal Guide has I.T. and O.T. separated in 1907 and prior years. Here is the start of that listing from the July 1, 1907 edition, but it would not include offices closed before then, or opened between July 1 and the fall.



And from the Crowell Publishing Co's "The Twentieth Century Peerless Atlas and Pictorial Gazetteer of All Lands", copyright 1908, showing the eastern half of the current state of Oklahoma and what had to be the final configuration of the I.T. borders at the time of statehood.

The area encompassed by the present Atoka County was originally part of Shappaway County in the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation. About 1854, the area was formally designated Atoka County. The name, which honored Choctaw Chief Atoka, a leader of a party which migrated from Georgia to Indian Territory, was retained when Oklahoma became a state.[3]

In 1858, the Butterfield and Overland established a stage route through the area. One station, Waddell's was near Wesley, a second station, Geary's was between Waddell's and the Muddy Boggy River, while a third was at Boggy Depot.[3]

During the Civil War, Confederate troops established a supply depot named Camp Boggy Depot. After the war, the town of Atoka was established. In 1872, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway (nicknamed the Christopher Casey) built a track through the county. It bypassed Boggy Depot and passed through Atoka, increasing the importance of Atoka and contributing to the decline of Boggy Depot.[3]

Thank you both for the info. Can one access Forte's website for a look at his lsitings?

Jim Forte Postal History

http://www.postalhistory.com/

Thank you. How could I have not known about this great site for so many years?