Travels with Museum Mavens, Part One: Atoka, Oklahoma

Atoka Museum and Civil War Cemetery

Our Spring Break road trip story could begin like this:

Two historians, armed with strong coffee and a passion for the past, set off for Oklahoma, eager to uncover stories, landmarks, and obscure facts.

With the “Oklahoma Travel” handbook as our guide, Patience and I crossed the Red River on an adventure as friends and colleagues. With the beginning of Spring just starting to show its colors, our gaze was set on the vast fields and empty miles of highway through the southeastern part of the state. I grew up here, and return often to visit family and friends. 

Our first destination was the Atoka Museum and Civil War Cemetery.  This hidden gem houses the collective history of Atoka County, a historical marker for the Butterfield stagecoach trail, and Oklahoma’s only Confederate cemetery that sits adjacent to the Katy railroad tracks.  

The curator shared the history of the museum along with her quest to uncover the hidden story of the men buried in the cemetery. For years local lore stated those men perished at the Battle of Middle Boggy in 1864.  As she spoke, I found myself completely taken in by this unassuming “history detective.”  With only limited information from the crude, weathered stone markers, she poured through old records on her annual journeys to the National Archives.  Through her careful attention to detail and sleuthing skills, she discovered this Arkansas regiment suffered a measles outbreak while traveling the Butterfield Stagecoach trail between Ft. Smith and Ft. McCulloch in 1862. 

Museums like this are the keepers of our history. They filter our national story down to the local experience. We learn about our town’s founders and place names through donated artifacts from volunteer docents.   The curator told us of her long years of service at the Museum, recounting a time when volunteers hosted annual events for school children, including tour guides in period dress and fresh-cooked kettle corn. 

As we were departing, I glanced over the museum site and it all seemed familiar. I am certain I have been here before. Was it part of a school field trip in elementary? Did I attend one of the spring festivals? And almost immediately the thought of kettle corn filled my mind.  I was flooded with nostalgia, as though I had discovered a piece of my past that I didn’t even realize I had lost.

If you find yourself traveling along US 69/75, make sure to visit the Atoka Museum, an affiliate of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Atoka Museum: https://www.okhistory.org/sites/atokamuseum

Butterfield Overland Mail: https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=BU019