Anadarko is a city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Caddo County,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census.
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, and the "A" was added due to a clerical error.
[Carolyn Riffel and Betty Bell, "Anadarko." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.](_blank)
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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. 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 (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...
was consolidated with the Wichita Agency.
In 1901, the federal government confiscated 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.
Listing as National Register of Historic Places
Anadarko Downtown Historic District was designated as a
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
with the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
on December 10, 1990.
: ☆
Geography
Climate
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 5,745 people living in the city.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
was . There were 2,800 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 36%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 40.4%
Native American, 6%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.1%
Asian, 11.2% Hispanic or Latino, 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 Nationand the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. The city houses the
National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians.
Anadarko is named after the
Nadaco, a Caddo band now affiliated with the
Caddo Nation. 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 of the Caddo, Wichita, and
Delaware Nation, prior to allotment in the post-Dawes
Allotment Era.
Culturally, Anadarko is rare among
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
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
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
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
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
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
The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...
boarding and day school for Native American students.
Education
Anadarko Public Schools 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 U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
Native American leader, scout, and rancher
*
Blackbear Bosin (1921–1980),
Comanche-
Kiowa artist
*
John Emhoolah Jr. (1929–2021),
Kiowa educational activist
*
Ronald D. Godard, 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 (b. 1940), first
United States Ambassador to Namibia
*
Butch Huskey (b. 1971), former Major League Baseball player
*
Charles Leonhard (1915–2002), music educator and academic
*
Doris McLemore (1927–2016) last fluent speaker of the
Wichita language
*
Cal McLish (1925–2010),
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player
*
Stephen Mopope (1900–1974),
Kiowa artist
*
Gary Nixon (1941–2011),
national champion motorcycle racer
*
Ray Gene Smith (1928–2005), football player
*
Jim Thompson (1906–1977), author and screenwriter
*
Gene Tracy (1927–1979), comedian, emcee, and recording artist
*
Louis Weller (1904–1979),
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
player
References
External links
City of AnadarkoAnadarko Chamber of CommerceEncyclopedia 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