Anadarko is a city in

Caddo County Caddo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,600. Its county seat is Anadarko. Created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory, the county is named for the Caddo tribe who were ...

, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Caddo County.

History

Anadarko got its name when its post office was established in 1873. The designation came from the Nadaco Native Americans, a branch of the

Caddo Nation The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

, and the "A" was added due to a clerical error.Carolyn Riffel and Betty Bell, "Anadarko." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed April 17, 2015. In 1871, the Wichita Agency was reestablished on the north bank of the Washita River after being destroyed in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. The Wichita Agency administered the affairs of the Wichita, Caddo and other tribes. In 1878, the Kiowa- Comanche Agency at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landma ...

was consolidated with the Wichita Agency. In 1901, the federal government allotted the lands of the Kiowa, Comanche and Arapaho Reservations, and opened the surplus land to white settlement. On August 6, 1901, an auction was held for homesteads and town lots. Around 5,000 people were living in "Rag Town" on the east edge of Anadarko awaiting the auction. Although 20,000 people were present for auction day, Anadarko's population dwindled to 2,190 in 1907. Agriculture has been the principal driver of the local economy, since the Washita Valley has been good for crops and livestock. The second pillar of the local economy has been Native American affairs.

Geography

Climate

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2020, there were 5,745 people living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 948.5 people per square mile (361.9/km). There were 2,800 housing units at an average density of 390.2 per square mile (150.7/km). The racial makeup of the city was 36%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 40.4% Native American, 6%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 1.1% Asian, 11.2% Hispanic or Lationo, and 14.7% from two or more races.

Culture

Native American significance

Anadarko, the self-titled "Indian Capital of the Nation." It is the capital of th
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
th
Delaware Nation
and the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. The city houses the

National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians The National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians (also known as American Indian Hall of Fame), established in 1952 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, is part of a complex representing American Indian life. The National Hall of Fame has bronze busts moun ...

. Anadarko is named after the Nadaco, a Caddo band now affiliated with the

. In the Caddo language, ''Nadá-kuh'' means "bumblebee place".Sturtevant, William C., general editor and Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast''. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 630. . The Caddo are a federally recognized Native American tribe for which Caddo County is named. Caddo County is part of the former

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

of the Caddo, Wichita, and Delaware Nation, prior to allotment in the post-Dawes

Allotment Era The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pres ...

Culturally, Anadarko is rare among Oklahoma cities as Native Americans form a near-majority. Locals are often familiar with a few basic Indian words, such as ''haw-nay'', Kiowa for "no." Wichita and Apache words are sometimes employed in casual conversation as well, such as ''hangy'', ''ah-ho'', ''ebote'', and ''bocote''. Native American motifs are commonly used for design, art, and other aspects of daily life. Anadarko has a Bureau of Indian Affairs office. The town is situated between the Wichita, Caddo, and Delaware reservations to the north, and the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache reservations to the south. These reservations were dismantled by the allotment of tribal lands to individual members, and the opening of the "excess" lands to settlement, in a series of land openings. The area surrounded by Anadarko was opened to settlement by a 1901 land lottery affecting the Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita and Caddo lands. The Anadarko area is home to Riverside Indian School, a Bureau of Indian Education boarding and day school for Native American students.

Education

Anadarko Public Schools The Anadarko Independent School District, also known as Anadarko Public Schools, is a school district based in Anadarko, Oklahoma United States. In addition to Anadarko it serves Washita. Schools ; Secondary schools * Anadarko High School * ...

consists of three elementary schools, Sunset Elementary, East Elementary, and Mission Elementary; a middle school; and a high school. There are approximately 1,950 students. Riverside Indian School is near Anadarko.

Notable people

* Richard Aitson (1953-2022), a Kiowa- Kiowa Apache bead artist, curator, and poet * Black Beaver (1806—1880),

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

Native American leader, scout, and rancher * Blackbear Bosin (1921-1980), Comanche- Kiowa artist * John Emhoolah Jr. (1929-2021), Kiowa educational activist *

Ronald D. Godard Ronald Dwight Godard (born July 8, 1942) is an American retired diplomat who was a career Foreign Service Officer with the grade of Minister Counselor. He was given the temporary rank of Ambassador in July 1998. Early life Godard was born in Anad ...

, ambassador * Derrell Griffith (b. 1943), former Major League Baseball player * Ralph B. Hodges (1930-2013), former Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court *

Genta H. Holmes Genta Hawkins Holmes (born September 3, 1940) is an American foreign service officer who served as ambassador to Namibia and Australia. In addition, she has served as a "Diplomat-in-Residence" at the University of California, Davis. Early life a ...

(b. 1940), first United States Ambassador to Namibia * Butch Huskey (b. 1971), former Major League Baseball player *

Charles Leonhard Charles Leonhard (December 8, 1915 - January 31, 2002) was an American music educator and academic. He was one of the first to argue for a focus upon aesthetic education within music education. For most of his career, he was a professor at the Un ...

(1915-2002), music educator and academic *

Doris McLemore Doris Jean Lamar-McLemore (April 16, 1927 – August 30, 2016) was an American teacher who was the last native speaker of the Wichita language, a Caddoan language spoken by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, indigenous to the U.S. states of Oklah ...

(1927–2016) last fluent speaker of the Wichita language * Cal McLish (1925-2010),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

player * Stephen Mopope (1900-1974), Kiowa artist * Gary Nixon (1941-2011), national champion motorcycle racer *

Ray Gene Smith Ray Gene Smith (November 27, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was an American football defensive back who played four seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He first enrolled at Cameron State Agricultural College before tr ...

(1928–2005), football player * Jim Thompson (1906-1977), author and screenwriter *

Gene Tracy Gene Tracy (born Ivan Eugene Morris) (April 8, 1927 – November 3, 1979) was an American comedian, emcee and recording artist. Life After leaving home at an early age, Tracy (still called Morris) secured employment as a promoter for a region ...

(1927–1979), comedian, emcee, and recording artist * Louis Weller (1904-1979),

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

player

References

External links

City of Anadarko

Anadarko Chamber of Commerce

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Anadarko (Town)

"Daily Democrat" newspaper
hosted by th
Gateway to Oklahoma History
{{authority control Cities in Oklahoma Cities in Caddo County, Oklahoma County seats in Oklahoma