Expedition to the Red

On Labor Day my mother, Carleta, her friend, Elaine, and I traveled down to the Red for an afternoon marker expedition.

Traveling down U.S. 283 from Elk City, our first stop was Mangum, Oklahoma. We already had these markers listed, but we needed to pick up a few GPS readings we were missing.



If you ever get a chance, visit the Old Greer County Museum. Outside the museum you'll find the Greer County Hall of Fame. It's monument after monument of biographies of some of the notable people in Greer County history. Also see the Old Greer County marker on the south side of the courthouse square just east of the museum.



Our next stop down U.S. 283 was the small town of Martha, Oklahoma. Martha is located just north of Altus, Oklahoma about 3 miles off U.S. 283 on E. 1580 Rd. There in front of an old school building we found the "Martha Centennial Memorial". This marker shows a timeline of important events in Martha's history.



Back down U.S. 283 we stopped at the Jackson County Courthouse located downtown Altus, Oklahoma. In front of the courthouse you'll find "Crossing The Red" a statue commemorating the history of cattle drives in the area. On the north side courthouse square you'll find the "Altus - Jackson County Well".



Now the real expedition began as we endeavor to find the "Doan's Crossing" marker located somewhere south of Tipton, Oklahoma. The only clue we had was the marker is located 6 miles west and 6 miles south of Tipton.

First we traveled down U.S. 283 to the state line to see if we could find a "historic marker ahead" sign. No luck there, so we back tracked a bit to State Highway 5 and drove east to Tipton. We didn't find a "historic marker ahead" sign that way either. We traveled south on Highway 5 from Tipton about 7 miles with out any luck. It was starting to get late so we decided to call it a day and turned back north.

When we arrived back in Tipton we stopped at a small convince store. While there Carleta learned from the cashier that if we traveled south into Texas on 283 we'll find a road to the Doan's Crossing marker. With this new clue we tracked back over to U.S. 283 and headed south into the Lone Star state.

A few miles down the road there is it was, a simple brown historical marker this way sign. Heading on east on Texas Farm Road 924 we found it, "Doan's Crossing". Well, we sort of found it. What we found was the Texas historical marker for "Doan's Crossing On The Red". If you are ever near Vernon, Texas, drive up U.S. 283 and visit this marker. There you'll find a not only the marker, but a preserved adobe house from the original Doan's Crossing and the very first Great Western Cattle Trail marker.



Well the sun was beginning to set, so it was time to head home. Not quite the marker we were looking for, but a find none the less.

Related: Flickr: The 070903 Expedition