Transportation In Oklahoma

Transportation This guide highlights transportation throughout the Oklahoma History Center. Your journey into Oklahoma Transportation begins in the ONEOK Gallery on the north end of the first floor. Enter the gallery and proceed to the covered Dwellings Exhibit. Enter the exhibit and examine the display cases containing a variety of moccasins in the floor.

Moccasins For many years, Native Americans traveled by foot and waterway. Gradually moccasins replaced woven sandals by the historic period. Moccasin patterns varied widely among the tribes with many decorated with beads and dyed porcupine quills. There are samples from a number of tribes in the display cases in the floor. There are additional samples of moccasins and boots in the display cases on either side of the exhibit. Many paths used by the Indians followed deer trails. Like man, deer seek the path of least resistance. Often trails followed major rivers. For example, the “California Road” followed the path of the Canadian River. Marked by Josiah Gregg, a prominent Santa Fe trader, in 1839, it was later surveyed by Captain Randolph Marcy. The trail received its name from early settlers following this trail on their way to California goldfields.

Image 1: Beaded Kiowa Moccasins

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Travois and the Horse Exit the Dwellings Exhibit. In front of you is a replica Plains Indian Travois. There is another travois in the exhibit area behind the wall. Enter through the walkway on your right. A travois is a crude sled consisting of two long poles. Materials to be transported were lashed across the poles on one end. Dogs were initially used to pull the sled; however, Indians found they could transport greater loads by harnessing a horse to the poles. Look carefully at the contents of the travois basket. Children were often carried on cradleboards as part of the travois load. The origin of the word travois is French meaning “to travel.”

Image 1: Cheyenne camp on the North Canadian River, winter 1890

Horses were indigenous to the Americas; however, the horse was fairly easily trapped and killed leading to their extinction. The Spanish reintroduced horses to American Indians in earnest beginning in the 1500s as they settled the continent. Horses escaped their Spanish owners and ran wild, mating at will. By the 1600s herds of feral horses roamed the plains. The Indians corralled and tamed these horses and learned how to ride them, perhaps by observing Spanish horsemen. Suddenly Native Americans were capable of traveling long distances at great speed. This was a boon to the nomadic hunters of the Great Plains especially. Image 2: Travois, ONEOK Gallery

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American Indian Cowboy The American Indian established himself as an able horseman during the 1600s. The original style of riding for many Native Americans was bareback, however many early saddles mimicked contemporary Spanish saddles. It was only a matter of time before the American Indian would join his white counterpart and become a cowboy. With ample prairie for grazing many tribes residing with Indian Territory were successful at ranching. Return to the first travois. Walk past the log cabin. On the wall on your left is a large mural showing American Indians at work as cowboys. On either end of the mural are display cases containing various artifacts used by American Indian Cowboys. Note especially the Comanche saddle and saddle blanket.

Image 1: Native American cowboy artifacts

Image 2: Chickasaw Ranch, no date

This concludes our investigation of Oklahoma Transportation in this gallery. Return to the Devon Great Hall. Take the elevator to the third floor. Enter the Noble gallery and walk to the wagon just inside the door.

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Covered Wagons and the Land Run One form of transportation used by settlers during Oklahoma’s five land runs was the covered wagon. From a distance, the cover made the wagon look sort of like a sailboat, hence the term prairie schooner. In truth, there was nothing at all glamorous about the typical covered wagon. There were no shock absorbers and the wagons were often filled with necessary goods. Since there were no roads, one can only imagine what the ride must have been like. It’s no small wonder that children usually preferred to walk. A typical covered wagon carried all the earthly possessions owned by the family. This wagon belonged to Lew Carroll and his wife. It was used in the initial run in 1889, but the family failed to stake a claim. Carroll did succeed in 1893 and settled near Newkirk. In front of the wagon there is a display of items carried in this wagon.

Image 3: Wagons preparing to move across Oklahoma's prairie

Image 4: The Carroll family wagon, NOBLE Gallery4

Day of the Cowboy The history of America's working cowboy began on the Texas plains where, after the Civil War, ranchers found they had a plentiful supply of beef with no place to sell it. Demand for meat existed along the East Coast, but to fulfill that need, Texas ranchers had to move cattle to the railroads, and the closest ones were in Kansas. Between the cattle ranches and railroads lay Oklahoma, the land of the great cattle trails between 1866 and 1889. One of these trails was the famed Chisholm Trail. Between 1867 and 1881 4 million cattle were driven from Texas to Kansas along that trail. Cattle worth $ 2 to $3 per head in Texas sold for $30 to $40 per head in Kansas. At those prices, the drives were invariably profitable for all involved.

Image 5: Farm and Ranch, NOBLE Gallery

Note the barbed wire exhibit along with a variety of cattle brands. There is a game that allows you to match a brand with a name. Pay particular attention to the cowboy bedroll and its contents.

Image 6: Cowboy camp, with chuck wagon and remuda 5

Chuck Wagon The chuck wagon got its name from the “chuck box.” The rear end of a chuck wagon consisted of a number of compartments where the cook could store food and utensils. The body of the wagon was used to store food and other supplies as well as the bedrolls and personal belongings of the cowboys during the cattle drives. A typical chuck wagon was 10 feet long and 40 inches wide. The “Cadillac” of all chuck wagons was the Studebaker wagon, an Army surplus wagon customized for the job. Much of the cooking was done in Dutch ovens over open fires where the “belly cheater” could bake, boil, or fry food. The typical cowboy menu was pretty simple. Because there was no refrigeration, the cook was limited to using foods that would not spoil. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner usually consisted of beans, sourdough biscuits and occasionally bacon, washed down with liberal doses of black coffee, referred to as “bellywash” or “Arbuckle.” Note some of the items on display – coffeepot, Dutch oven, fry pan, Arbuckle brand coffee, coffee grinder, flour sacks, canned goods, and various utensils. In the lower left-hand chuck wagon drawer you will find some interesting implements: a curry comb for the horses, a hoof knife, and a device used to wean calves. The latter device was attached to the calf’s nose. When a calf attempted to nurse the prongs would jam into the cow’s udder and she would give the calf the “brush off”. Image 7: Dinner time on the trail

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Case Tractor Tractors liberated farmers from the need to use animals to power farm equipment. “You don’t need to feed and care for a tractor like you do a horse. You just gas it up, crank it over and go whenever you want.” This particular tractor was used by the John Donley family of Weatherford from 1936 to 1950.

Image 8: 1936 Case Tractor, NOBLE Gallery

City Trolley Car Electric-powered trolleys revolutionized urban travel. Local trolleys ran within city limits and were referred to as streetcars. Trolleys that traveled between towns were usually speedier and were referred to as interurbans. The Oklahoma Railway Company operated several streetcar lines in Oklahoma City. It also operated three interurbans from 1904-1947. These ran from Oklahoma City to Norman, from Oklahoma City through Edmond to Guthrie, and from Oklahoma City to El Reno. Image 9: Typical street car in Oklahoma City

The replica trolley car presents a video program that outlines development of rural and urban Oklahoma in the early 1900.

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Wiley Post As you enter the Kerr-McGee Gallery you see a portrait of Wiley Post, one Oklahoma’s most renowned aviators. Born in Texas in 1898, his family moved to Garvin County when Wiley was 11. After serving in the Army, Post began working in the oil field. In the mid1920s he lost his left eye in an oil field accident. He used an $1800 settlement from the accident to buy his first plane. Soon thereafter he met fellow Oklahoman, Will Rogers, world famous humorist and columnist, and offered to fly him to a rodeo that he was writing about. This was the beginning of a friendship that would last a lifetime. Image 10: Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae

Post became the personal pilot of F. C. Hall, a wealthy Oklahoma oilman. Hall purchased a Lockheed Vega, largely for Post’s use, and nicknamed it Winnie Mae after his daughter. The Vega was the most modern airplane of its type in 1930. Post first achieved national prominence in 1930 when he won the National Air Race Derby flying from Los Angeles to Chicago. In 1931, Post and his navigator, Harold Gatty, became the first to fly an airplane around the world. Their adventure began on June 23 and featured 14 stops over the next 8 days. In 1933 Post repeated the trip solo. He relied on a newly devised auto-pilot and a radio compass for navigation and knocked 21 hours off his previous record. In 1934 Post took on the challenge of high altitude air travel. He devised the pressurized flight suit that made flight at soaring elevations possible. Post super-charged Winnie Mae’s engine in order to reach high altitudes. On September 5 Post reached an altitude of 40,000 feet above Chicago. He would later reach 50,000 feet, discovering the jet stream in the process. In March of 1935 he flew from Burbank, CA to Cleveland, OH in the stratosphere using the jet stream to speed his trip, increasing his average speed to 279 mph. Image 11: Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae

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In 1935 Wiley assembled an experimental aircraft to service a potential mail-and-passenger air route between the West Coast and Russia. He and his friend Will Rogers set out to test the feasibility of the idea. The plane crashed near Barrow, Alaska during an intense fog killing both Rogers and Post.

The Winnie Mae Turn around and view an exact model of the Winnie Mae hanging in the rotunda. The Winnie Mae is a Lockheed Vega 5-C powered by a “Wasp” engine. Winnie Mae is 27’8” long with a 41’ wing span. The height is 8’6” and the wing area is 275 square feet. The empty weight is 2361 pounds with a 1672 pound cargo capacity. The maximum designed airspeed is 179 miles per hour. The Winnie Mae carried 96 gallons of aviation fuel and 10 gallons of oil and with a cruising range of 725 miles. The price at the factory in 1928 was $18,500. Post’s widow sold the original to the Smithsonian Institution, where it has been on display since 1936.

Image 13: The Winnie Mae Image 12: Replica Winnie Mae in Devon Great Hall

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Dugout Canoe The Indians used these vessels to travel the rivers. A dugout was constructed from a single tree of uniform diameter. The tree was stripped of bark and the bow and stern were carved with an ax. The interior of the canoe was first burned out before it was finished with additional ax carving. Dugout canoes have been in use for more than 15,000 years.

Note the displays of flatboats and Image 14: Dugout canoe in KERR-MCGEE Gallery keelboats on the wall above the canoe. These are examples of more modern means of river transportation.

Standard Oil Truck Horse-drawn trucks like this were used to deliver petroleum products (such as kerosene, fuel oil and lubricating oil) before gasolinepowered trucks were available.

Image 15: Horse drawn Standard Oil Truck

Land Transportation Routes On the wall across from the oil truck is an exhibit dealing with land transportation. Note the display that shows the various routes explorers used to study Oklahoma. Examine the transition of transportation from horse to horse-drawn carriage and finally to automobiles. There is an interactive video on motor vehicles, horse-drawn vehicles, road building and recreation. There is a slide show on the wall opposite the oil wagon consisting of a series of maps of roads and trails in Oklahoma.

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Lee Way Motor Freight Turn your attention to the 1932 International truck that is on display. The truck once belonged to the Lee Way Motor Freight Company. This company developed from a horse and wagon operation at the turn of the 20th century into one of the biggest motor freight companies in the nation by 1976. When PepsiCo acquired it in 1976 Lee Way was responsible for $115,000,000 worth of business each year. The history of the company is outlined in a panel beside the truck.

Image 17: 1932 Lee Way Motor Freight Truck

Image 16: Lee Way Motor Freight drivers with their trucks, no date

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Aviation in Oklahoma On the wall opposite the truck is a panel discussing aviation in the state. Early commercial aircraft flew only during daylight hours. Consequently transcontinental travel involved a combination of air and rail transportation. The Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) took 48 hours to transport passengers from coast to coast. In 1929 passengers flew into Waynoka, Oklahoma from New York, on a Ford Trimotor. Passengers were treated to in-flight meals and other niceties. After a relaxed meal in Waynoka, they boarded Pullman cars to continue the rail portion of the trip to California. The aviation industry in Oklahoma took off during World War II. Douglas Aircraft built two plants in the state. The plant in Tulsa built 3,000 military aircraft including A-24 Dauntless dive bomber, B-24 Liberator bombers and A-26 Invader attack aircraft. The Douglas plant, in what would become Tinker Air Force Base, built 5,354 C47 Skytrain cargo planes during the war.

Image 18: Early image from Oklahoma aviation

Image 19: Ford Trimotor from OHS collection, no date 12

Commercial Products Display There is a display case on the east wall beside the Ditch Witch that contains an array of commercial products and devices that were invented in Oklahoma. Carl C. Magee of Oklahoma City invented the “coin controlled parking meter” on May 13, 1933. The first meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935. The stated purpose was “to control on-street parking,” but it was obvious from the beginning that another purpose was to generate revenue for the city. Currently, parking meters in the U.S. generate over $1,000,000 per day in revenue!

Image 20: Ditch Witch Assembly Plant, no date

Automobiles, Turnpike System & Roads Turn your attention to the 1951 “bullet-nose” Studebaker originally owned by the Polk family in Oklahoma City. When new, this car sold for $1681. The Studebaker sits beside a model of an original tollbooth on the Turner Turnpike. The turnpike, which connects Tulsa and Oklahoma City, opened in 1953. At the time it was the first paved, divided 4-lane, limited access highway west of the Mississippi.

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Image 21: 1951 Studebaker, KERR-MCGEE Gallery

Studebakers were not built in Oklahoma; however, several cars were produced in the state over the years. The Geronimo (1918-1920) was built in Enid. Six hundred were constructed before fire destroyed the factory. The Tulsa Four (19171922) was a four-cylinder vehicle built especially to drive around the oilfield where there were few roads. It was rugged with a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour. The Tulsa Four factory was also destroyed by fire. General Motors opened an assembly line, the largest at the time, in Oklahoma City in 1975. The plant employed 5,000 workers and was saluted for employing women at a time when that was the exception, not the rule. The plant closed in 2005. U.S. Route 66, which connects Chicago and Los Angeles, passes through Oklahoma. Route 66 was referred to as the “Mother Road” by John Steinbeck in his famed novel The Grapes of Wrath. Oklahoman Cyrus Avery is credited as being instrumental in arranging state, local, and federal funding for Route 66. It comes as no surprise to learn that the highway passed in front of Avery’s Corner Restaurant.

Railroad and Rail Lines Turn around and proceed through the center aisle to enter the railroad exhibit. There is a display case with a variety of early railroad artifacts. In addition, there is the Preston George Railroad Images interactive. The railroad largely replaced the steamboat as the low-cost, preferred means of shipping bulk freight as well as transporting people. Steamboats were limited to waterways while railroads could go anywhere one chose to lay track.

Image 22: Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf stock certificate

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The Missouri, Kansas and Texas (KATY) railroad in Indian Territory was constructed in 1870, becoming the first line to cross the Indian Nations. Most of the early Oklahoma railroads ran north and south. The exception was the Choctaw, Oklahoma, & Gulf (CO&G) which ran east and west. Walk past the doorway and look into the Ticket Office. There is a display case showing artifacts common to both passenger and freight rail transport. George Pullman modernized passenger rail travel when he introduced the Pullman car in the late 1800s. Passengers could eat and sleep in Pullman cars equipped with suites. Pullman offered former slaves who had worked as domestic servants jobs as Porters. They were paid 55 cents an hour and worked 20 hour days with only 4 hours off for sleep.

Not all Pullman cars were equipped with meal service. Harvey House Restaurants provided meals to many passengers. The restaurants were located at major train stations across the west, including Oklahoma. Passengers could choose from an extensive menu, and their requests would be telegraphed from the train to the station so that their meals would be ready when they arrived. Most train lines allowed only 20 minutes for their passengers to dine.

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Steamship Heroine Steamboats were a common means of transportation on rivers for both passengers and freight into the late 1800s. Because they had to travel in shallow water, steamboats had to have very shallow drafts. They also had to avoid floating logs and other debris. Because of the inherent dangers of river travel steamboats had very short lives, typically 5-8 years.

Image 23: Steamship City of Muskogee

The steamship Heroine sank in the Red River in May of 1838. She was bound for Fort Towson, carrying supplies for the garrison. The load included barrels of pickled pork and flour, boxes of soap and other sundries. Some of the cargo was retrieved from the wreck shortly after it sank. Archeologists found the ship’s remains with several barrels of pork and flour still on board. One of those barrels is on display with other artifacts retrieved from the wreck. There is also a replica of the ship’s rudder. The Heroine was powered by a single-piston steam engine. This design suggests that she was built no later than 1840. Other records show that she was actually constructed in 1832, making her six years old when she sank. The Red River changed course (as it has done quite frequently in its history) soon after the ship sank, leaving it buried in the middle of a pasture for many years. The river again shifted course, returning the ship to the riverbed.

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Turn around and walk back up the center aisle. Pass the Studebaker on your left and enter the Military History Exhibit. On your right, there are displays covering the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As you proceed into the exhibit, you will pass the Vietnam display. Continue forward and you enter what appears to be the ribs for an airplane fuselage that houses displays artifacts from World War II and World War I.

Oklahoma at War Proceed into the simulated aircraft fuselage. On your left are several exhibit cases containing equipment from World War II. There are photos of the USS Oklahoma and uniforms from its sailors. Across the aisle is a map showing the Prisoner of War camps established in Oklahoma during the war. Further down the fuselage you will find the exhibit on World War I. Image 24: Military artifacts, KERR-MCGEE Gallery

This concludes your visit to the Kerr-McGee Gallery. Walk back to the entrance. Walk over to the elevators and ride down to the first floor to continue your tour. Cross the rotunda and enter the Inasmuch Gallery. Bear to your left, walk through the exhibit on radio and television and enter the Wild West Show exhibit.

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Stagecoach Every Wild West show had to have a stagecoach chase, and this was the coach used for that purpose in the 101 Ranch show. This coach was constructed at the AbbotDowning Coachworks in Concord, New Hampshire. It was designed to carry 12 passengers and was originally used in central Massachusetts in the early 1800s as part of a passenger transport system. Image 25: One of many stage coach designs, no date

Examine the stagecoach. The wheels have steel rims. This gave the wheels a longer life since they were protected from road hazards. The wheel hubs did not have the benefit of bearings so it was necessary to grease the axles at least daily. At that, axles did not last long and wheels frequently fell off. Note that the carriage is suspended on leather straps. These served as crude shock absorbers. Stagecoaches traveled about 8 miles per hour. Riding one was a dusty miserable affair, and it was not cheap. In the late 1800s it cost $200 to travel from Fort Smith to the West Coast. In addition, passengers were restricted to 25 pounds of luggage.

Image 26: Stage Coach, INASMUCH Gallery 18

1956 John Zink Special This John Zink Special won the 1956 Indianapolis 500. View the video of the race. Zink entered at least one car in the Indianapolis 500 every year from 1952 (when he was 20 years old) through 1967. One of his most unique cars was the 1956 entry. This car’s body was custom-designed by his chief mechanic, A.J. Watson. It featured an aerodynamic design with a front-mounted engine that was offset from the driver for balance.

Image 27: John Zink race car, winner of the 1956 Indianapolis 500

Continue to your right. Walk through the Culture and the Arts exhibit and the Images of Oklahoma (Photography) exhibit. Walk over to the old truck in front of you.

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Radio Service Truck Lee Fish used this 1936 Dodge panel truck to service radios. Fish made his rounds in this truck using the repair equipment displayed in the back to repair radios in customers’ homes. The standard fee was $1.50 plus parts. If a radio needed to be taken to the shop for repair, he would just strap it onto the running board. Lee bought the truck for $550 in 1936. When Fish purchased the truck, the salesman was astonished that Fish could come up with such a princely sum during the Great Depression. Fish owned and used this truck until 2003, when at the age of 99 he retired and sold it to the museum.

Image 28: Lee Fish's radio service truck, INASMUCH Gallery

Historic Cameras, Traveling Photographer Beyond the model photo studio is a case containing two cameras used in the late 1800s. There is a photo of a typical traveling photographer of the period. These itinerant photographers documented the life and times in both Indian and Oklahoma Territories. Their wagon served as their dark room. Exit the Inasmuch Gallery and continue down the hall (Vose family wing) to the space exhibits. Image 29: Traveling photography, INASMUCH Gallery 20

Oklahoman’s in Space Stop at the first display case and view the astronaut’s space suit. Thomas Stafford used a suit like this one. He said that when he put his space suit on, he thought of his fellow Oklahoman, Wiley Post, because Stafford knew that Post designed many of the features that went into the modern space suit. Oklahoma has the distinction of being home to a number of astronauts that include: Thomas Stafford, Owen Garriot, William Pogue, Gordon Cooper, John Herrington, Stuart Roosa and Shannon Lucid.

Gemini VI Spacecraft Thomas Stafford served as pilot of the Gemini VI in 1965. He guided the craft to within feet of the companion Gemini VII, successfully completing the first space rendezvous in history. The Gemini VI reentered earth’s atmosphere at over 16,000 MPH. Examine the heat shield carefully. It reached temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during re-entry, showering the capsule with a torrent of burning embers. The astronauts inside were just eight inches away from these soaring temperatures. Image 30: Gemini VI, piloted by Oklahoman Thomas Stafford Stafford holds the record as the fastest person in history. He re-entered the atmosphere at 24,791 MPH at the end of another space mission in 1969.

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Wiley Post’s Pressure Suit Wiley Post was a pioneer in high altitude flight. Because of the extremely low pressure at high altitudes, he needed a pressurized suit supplied with breathing air in order to survive. He devised and tested such a suit in 1934. There is a replica of the helmet used in the display case beyond the Gemini VI.

Image 32: Wiley Post's pressure suit

Image 31: Wiley Post in his pressure suit with Frank Phillips

Walk back up the aisle, pass the rotunda and continue past the Library. Exit through the south doors and walk past the fountains on the verandah. You are entering the Red River Journey.

Red River Journey The Red River has been used for transportation for generations. As you walk along the scale model of the river, you will visit a number of places of interest. Pause at the Introduction Panel to preview your trip. There are distinct sections of the Journey dedicated to the Wichita Mountains, the Arbuckle Mountains and the Kiamichi Mountains. Image 33: Red River Journey 22