Oklahoma Postal History Collectors?

Hello all. I wanted to start this post for two reasons:

First, I would like to see how many people on this forum collect the postal history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory. It is my hands-down, #1 collecting interest and it would be fun to see who else is interested in this area. Anyone else collect or specialize this area?

Second, I wanted to tell those interested about the Oklahoma Postal History Society. They meet once a month in Oklahoma City, always a blast and an interesting presentation. Sometimes whoever presents has handouts, copies of their slides, etc. that the OPHS emails out to those who could not attend. They always email the group to say what next month's topic is, see if anyone can help contribute from their collection.

Dues are a whopping $0.00 a year. Even if you live far away from Oklahoma, if you would like to be included on the email list for the OPHS, message me your email address and I will get it to the club. They are always interested in hearing from other collectors, no matter where you live.

The postal history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory is a unique and fascinating part of our nation's history. Being able to share that with others just makes it that much better.

Could we see some examples of your covers?

Indian Territory material is a very challenging and interesting area. Depending on the depth that one goes into it, material can get pretty scarce.

I second the request to see some material, if its convenient for you to post some.

While a student of the postal history of the entire state, my main collecting focus is the postal history of Osage County, OK. As an Osage Indian who works and lives here, the postal history of my home means a lot to me. Here are some of my favorites:



Pawhuska is the county seat and home of the reservation's first post office in 1876 (and my hometown). Late 1870s private use of a Department of the Interior penalty envelope. Cut cork killer with a star design.



Pawhuska circa 1886 private use of different version of Department of the Interior penalty envelope.



VERRRY early 1061 (1901, hah) double weight letter paid with 4 cent Indian Hunting Buffalo Trans-Mississippi on masonic cover, unclaimed and returned. This is only the second cover I have seen from Oklahoma franked with #287. When I was told about this cover, I thought it was a sick joke. It actually exists and one of my all time favorites.



Just a few months short of statehood postcard to Pawnee Bill, forwarded to El Reno.



Gray Horse was the second major post office, opened in May of 1890. The passage of the Organic Act in May of 1890 made the Osage Reservation part of the Oklahoma Territory. The only Osage County covers stating "Indian Territory" will be prior to 1890 and from Pawhuska.



1930 20th century fancy cancel Gray Horse "Gray Horse"



1931 Foraker non-standard fancy four bar. Locally called "the Foraker barbed wire."



1930 Osage, OK cover to Babe Ruth. Often presented as fan mail, actually contained cereal box tops for a promotional give away.



1909 Bartlett. The shortest lived Osage County post office, open for a year and a half from 1908-1910. Only reported example of anything from this location.



1907 Okesa Doane postmark. Okesa opened in 1906 and should have been issued a Doane. This is the only reported use of this device.

And as another side note, there is the Pulitzer Prize winning play "August: Osage County" that was made into a movie in 2013 starring Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep, filmed here. David Grann's book "Killers of the Flower Moon" about the Osage Rein of Terror and the birth of the FBI is currently in production of the film version. Ree Drummond's "Pioneer Woman" on Food Network is filmed in and around Pawhuska, tourism for that is really helping this little town. Not too bad for a 1.5 million acre area where the county seat is a town of 3,500 people. This place is so historical and magical. When you can marry philately to a place like this, it becomes a life's work.

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed studying all of those covers.

Your cover from 1061 pre-dates the first crusade. Impressive.

Collecting postal history of an area is probably often best done from someone native to the area. You will know subtle things that others could not. Good luck.

edit: One area I'm considering collecting, is "Fort" covers. I note that you have a Fort Reno one.

I see a lot of Oklahoma related Postal History on ebay. Once in a while some territorial ones, but not often. I notice it because I was born and raised in OKC. I've given some thought to collecting Postal History items from there; just haven't gotten around to doing it...maybe one day. My grandparents lived in Clinton and in El Reno.

very nice collection

Arrows2Atoms: Is there a list of the Post Offices that were in the panhandle strip known as No-Man's Land or in Indian Territory prior to the formation of Oklahoma Territory, and ended up being in the newly-formed Oklahoma Territory when it was created in May of 1890?

When I was younger, No Man's Land was excruciatingly boring to travel through on our way to family vacations the mountains. As an adult, I have learned to love its history and stark beauty. Ken Burn's "The Dust Bowl" further cemented my appreciation of this harsh and storied place.

No Man's Land is (from west to east) the current Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver counties of Oklahoma. The list below should be pretty decent, some of the operating post offices may have been closed. If you have any further questions, I am good friends with the guy who specializes in this area:


Cimarron County

Bakke (1907-1909)
Benola (1906-1908)
Bertrand (1906-1918)
Boise City (1908-Date)
Carrizo (1886-1890)
Cimarron (1907-1908)
Collins (1888-1889)
Dee (1906-1913)
Delfin (1907-1926)
Dilya (1906-1912)
Doby (1908-1914)
Esbon (1909-1915)
Felt (1926-Date)
Florence (1890-1891)
Gallienas (1890-1904)
Garlington (1908-1926)
Garrett (1891-1917)
Golf (1907-1910)
Gresham (1906-1913)
Griggs (1906-1973)
Hartford (1907-1907)
Hidalgo (1907-1916)
Hurley (1907-1925)
Jurgensen (1906-1908)
Kenton (1891-Date)
Keota (1904-1906)
Keyes (1926-Date)
Kimball (1892-1899)
Marella (1906-1915)
Metcalf (1894-1900)
Mexhoma (1909-1942)
Midwell (1908-1935)
Mineral (1895-1911)
Mineral City (1888-1895)
Minnetonka (1907-1910)
Myrna (1906-1907)
Oshuskey (1906-1913)
Pulis (1906-1907)
Ralley (1907-1914)
Regnier (1920-1948)
Sampsel (1906-1929)
Sturgis (1926-1936)
Tepee (1906-1908)
Usna (1917-1920)
Verne (1907-1910)
Wheeless (1907-1963)
Wilkins (1905-1930)
Willowbar (1906-1926)


Texas County

Adams (1930-Date)
Appleton (1906-1907)
Arrilla (1907-1908)
Baker (1953-1985)
Bakersburg (1931-1953)
Barden (1906-1912)
Buffalo (1888-1902)
Byrd (1904-1907)
Cable (1907-1910)
Camp (1906-1916)
Caple (1891-1916)
Carthage (1906-1914)
Claraville (1905-1908)
Cosmos (1906-1913)
Dague (1904-1910)
Dora (1906-1907)
Eubank (1891-1902)
Eula (1905-1908)
Eva (1906-1975)
Fernwood (1905-1908)
Goodwell (1903-Date)
Grand Valley (1888-1930)
Guy (1906-1907)
Guymon (1901-Date)
Hardesty (1887-Date)
Hartville (1907-1908)
Healy (1904-1908)
Hooker (1902-Date)
James (1906-1910)
Keltner (1906-1910)
Knickerbocker (1905-1907)
Kuhn (1906-1912)
Lavrock (1889-1892)
Lemon (1905-1907)
Linkart (1905-1907)
Loretta (1898-1901)
Mitchell (1888-1890)
Nabisco (1904-1906)
Neff (1904-1909)
Ona (1907-1919)
Optima (1886-Date)
Otex (1906-1907) e
Pony Creek Rur. Sta. (1908-1927)
Postle (1905-1915)
Preston (1892-1901)
Range (1895-1934)
Redpoint (1896-1915)
Rice (1906-1925)
Roy (1894-1902)
Shade (1890-1902)
Shelton (1906-1912)
Sledgeville (1906-1907)
Texhoma (1901-Date)
Turney (1907-1910)
Tyrone (1892-1898)
Tyrone (1902-Date)
Weitz (1908-1911)


Beaver County

Abe (1904-1907)
Adams (1880-1881)
Balko (1904-Date)
Beatrice (1904-1908)
Beaver (1883-Date)
Benton (1886-1899)
Bluegrass (1886-1898)
Boyd (1887-1964)
Chauncey (1906-1907)
Clear Lake (1888-1944)
Cline (1894-1913)
Coin (1895-1914)
Como (1904-1908)
Conquest (1904-1908)
Conroy (1904-1909)
Copass (1905-1906)
Couch (1900-1914)
Crowe (1899-1901)
Custer (1891-1904)
Danks (1892-1892)
Dombey (1904-1950)
Duckpond (1906-1908)
Ecter (1906-1910)
Eldridge (1906-1907)
Elmwood (1888-1986)
Elsie (1907-1908)
Esther (1903-1912)
Fairview (1888-1890)
Falkey (1906-1916)
Floris (1903-1925)
Forgan (1912-Date)
Fulton (1887-1907)
Garland (1888-1891)
Gate (1894-Date)
Gate City (1886-1894)
Golden (1905-1908)
Granada (1904-1907)
Gray (1906-1964)
Hamilton (1907-1910)
Hatten (1910-1913)
Hereford (1888-1889)
Hibbs (1903-1909)
Hitt (1906-1907)
Holland (1904-1913)
Iva (1905-1907)
Ivanhoe (1887-1891)
Ivanhoe (1892-1920)
Knowles (1907-Date)
Kokomo (1888-1891)
Lake (1887-1888)
Lakemp (1909-1919)
Lansing (1888-1896)
Lockwood (1887-1917)
Logan (1888-1996)
Lorena (1904-1925)
Madison (1904-1925)
Mallory (1905-1907)
Marengo (1904-1908)
Meridian (1887-1893)
Minnelo (1904-1906)
Mocane (1909-1948)
Munden (1907-1909)
Murdock (1889-1891)
Muriel (1906-1907)
Nye (1893-1919)
Paladin (1903-1908)
Paladora (1888-1899)
Peoria (1890-1891)
Plainview (1910-1912)
Pronto (1904-1909)
Ragsdale (1904-1907)
Riverside (1888-1927)
Rothwell (1887-1898)
Ruskin (1906-1909)
Sixmile (1896-1899)
Sophia (1903-1916)
Springer (1888-1888)
Sunset (1905-1908)
Surprise (1905-1910)
Tapley (1904-1909)
Tiffany (1887-1888)
Tiffin (1907-1918)
Turpin (1925-Date)
Udell (1907-1909)
Venus (1894-1909)
Webster (1906-1906)
Wellborn (1903-1907)
Wentworth (1903-1905)
Zelma (1903-1917)

Very nice! What is the earliest cover in your collection? What is the earliest known cover of what became the Indian Territory and later Oklahoma - maybe from the days when it was the Missouri Territory or the Arkansas Territory?

I only collect the Osage Reservation, so my oldest cover is that late 1870s, the first one above. After the establishment of the reservation in 1872 and before the opening of the first post office in 1876, covers were sent to the Osage every few weeks via freighters. Covers would be addressed to "Osage Agency, Osage Reservation, Indian Territory, via Coffeyville Kansas," the gathering point. I have seen incoming covers ("via Coffeyville") in this 1872-1876 era, but no hand carried covers exiting the Osage.

I have asked an expert to see what they have in regards to the earliest covers from what is now Oklahoma. I have seen a couple of stamped examples franked with Scott #2. These few examples are all the stamped mail that are known with the first issue. Essentially all mail from the Indian Territory in the late 1840s was traveling more than 300 miles (10 cents). No Scott #1s are known on cover on mail less than 300 miles.

When my friend get back with me, I will hopefully post some photos of really early Indian Territory mail. Early stampless is exceedingly scarce.

Here is the earliest cover from what is now Oklahoma. June 24, 1824 cover from Miller Court House, Arkansas Territory to Virginia. Miller Court House was located in what is now McCurtain County in extreme southeast Oklahoma.

Post Office established by Mail Route #412, Little Rock A.T. to Miller Court House, A.T., by horseback once a week starting June 1, 1824. Post office then closed in 1838. Miller Court House was the first post office in what is now Oklahoma.

That Miller Court House cover is really exceptional - thanks to you and your friend for sharing this image! I can understand that such early stampless covers, or even stamped ones from the 1840s must be almost impossible to come by.

That's pretty early! Nice!

July 1, 1850 use of Scott #2 from Doaksville, Choctaw Nation to New Orleans. Not the earliest use, but one of the nine known Lear correspondence covers documenting the first use of postage stamps in Indian Territory.