Lost Mountain is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Pushmataha County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,572. Its county seat is Antlers. The county was created at statehood from part of the former territory of the ...

, located approximately 10 miles northwest of

Antlers, Oklahoma Antlers is a city in and the county seat of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,453 at the 2010 census, a 3.9 percent decline from 2,552 in 2000. The town was named for a kind of tree that becomes festooned with antl ...

. It is a part of the

Kiamichi Mountains The Kiamichi Mountains (Choctaw: ''Nʋnih Chaha Kiamitia'') are a mountain range in southeastern Oklahoma. A subrange within the larger Ouachita Mountains that extend from Oklahoma to western Arkansas, the Kiamichi Mountains sit within Le Flore, ...

, a subrange of the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

. Its summit is 791 feet above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

.Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer The commonly accepted definition of mountain calls for a mountain's summit to top 1,000 feet in elevation. In that sense Lost Mountain qualifies as a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

. Lost Mountain is notable for its unusual isolation. It is in the middle of the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

of the

Kiamichi River The Kiamichi River is a river in southeastern Oklahoma, United States of America. A tributary of the Red River of the South, its headwaters rise on Pine Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas border. From its source in Polk County, ...

, and stands alone from the mountains lining either side of the valley floor. In addition, its isolation is enforced by the river, which flows around much of its base, and Spirit Lake, an ancient channel of the Kiamichi River, which lies along another side. A fishing camp was located at the base of Lost Mountain for decades. Aside from the mountain's unusual geological prominence, its only other cause for note occurred during the early 20th century, when a self-proclaimed religious leader, who referred to himself as the supreme deity, established a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of his followers at the top of the mountain. Traces of their residency still exist, in the form of hand-dug

water wells A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. Th ...

Squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

who defied authority, the mountain's isolation, and the ease of keeping unwanted people off the mountain made it a perfect location for their settlement. The mountain was part of a very busy setting due to the location of Kosoma, Oklahoma—an early

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

turned

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

—nearby. The St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, whose tracks ran along the mountain's base, operated from the 1880s until 100 years later.

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

, logged from Lost Mountain and adjacent mountains, was shipped from the railroad depot at Kosoma. The mountain's name was most likely given during this time—the 1880s through the early 1900s (decade).

Oklahoma State Highway 2 State Highway 2, abbreviated SH-2 or OK-2, is a designation for two distinct highways maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Though they were once connected, the middle section of highway was concurrent with three different U.S. highways, s ...

now passes to the west of Lost Mountain, affording an excellent view of it and the river valley.

References

{{Mountains of Oklahoma Mountains of Oklahoma Landforms of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma