The History Press [New Releases]

An in-depth look at frontier life in Eastern Oklahoma. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, a steady stream of new arrivals began making their way into the rugged lands of Eastern Oklahoma. European settlers and the tribes who were forcibly relocated to the territory after 1830 established new lives alongside the Native Americans indigenous to the region. Their biographies make up an often untold story of two hundred years of Oklahoma history. From the origin of towns and commercial enterprises to profiles of pioneers both prominent and obscure, Ronald R. Switzer highlights the diversity and determination of the people who grappled for success in the early days of the Oklahoma frontier.

Explore more than a century of Garfield County's ghostly lore.

Garfield County is seemingly a quiet span of rural Oklahoma, but its history is steeped with strange legends. Enid (originally known as "Skeleton" for chilling reasons) has served as the major center since winning out in the violent railroad war of 1894. Early settlers were startled when a mysterious stranger claimed to be John Wilkes Booth in a deathbed confession thirty years after Lincoln's assassination. The intervening decades only added to the county's haunted heritage, from the phantom staff still in the Broadway Tower to the glowing headstone at Imo. Join Jeff Provine and Tammy Wilson in the shadows that stalk the countryside and the spillways beneath town.

Oklahoma in the Great War. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. As the country prepared for war, the state of Oklahoma answered the call. Thousands of men, including Native Americans who did not have American citizenship, entered the service prepared to sacrifice their lives while men and women on the home-front dedicated themselves to supporting the war effort. Like many other states, Oklahoma was hampered by overzealous Councils of Defense and the devastating Flu Epidemic, overcame those challenges to provide a unified front. Author illuminates the fascinating history of the state by bringing together little-known stories from all over Oklahoma.