Canute - Canute, Oklahoma, USA
N 35° 25.307 W 099° 16.289
14S E 475354 N 3919852
A group of historical markers alongside an old alignment of Route 66 in Canute, a small virtual ghost town in Washita County, Oklahoma.
Waymark Code: WMNGXV
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 03/15/2015
Views: 10
CANUTE.
"EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE AREA WERE PLAINS INDIANS WHO FOLLOWED AND HUNTED THE ROAMING HERDS OF BUFFALO THAT GRAZED THE RICH GRASSLANDS OF THIS AREA. EVIDENCE OF SEVERAL INDIAN ENCAMPEMENTS HAVE BEEN LOCATED ON ELK, TBAIL, TURKEY,AND OAK CREEKS, AS WELL AS INDIAN SPRINGS.
IN 1541 SPANISH EXPLORER CORONADO CROSSED WESTERN OAKLAHOMA IN SEARCH OF FABLED CITIES OF GOLD, FOR THE NEXT 350 YEARS SPANIARDS MEXICANS AND AMERICANS SEARCHED FOR GOLD IN THE CANUTE AREA, SOMWHERE
ALONG TURKEY CREEK MAY HAVE ONCE THRIVED THE FABLED MEXICAN GOLD MINING TOWN OF CASCORILLO, THE WEALTH THEY SOUGHTIN VAIN WAS FOUND BY LATER RESIDENTINS THE FORM OF WHEAT, CATTLE, OIL & NATURAL GAS.
ANOTHER MAJOR SOURCE OF THE AREAS PROSPERITY WAS THE DISCOVERY OF OIL IN THE EARLY 1900'S AND LATER NATURAL GAS. THE FIRST WELL DRILLED IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA WAS ON THE C.M. WILCOX FARM, ONE MILE NORTHEAST OF CANUTE, IN 1917 THE DEEPEST WELL IN THE WORLD AT THE TIME WAS DRILLED TO 31,441 FEET AND WAS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CANUTE."
Oklahoma Historical Society & OK Dept of transportation.
"Canute was established in the early 1900s and located on the now-defunct Rock Island Railroad. Following the advent of the automobile, Canute became a popular stop along U.S. Route 66 and a large number of tourist businesses including gasoline service stations, motels and restaurants. However, when Interstate 40 bypassed the small village to the north in May, 1970 and received only one exit from the freeway, the local economy went into a decline due to the bypass and the concurrent closure of nearby Clinton-Sherman Air Force base at Burns Flat, leading most of those businesses to shut down. Today, Canute businesses include a bank and auto repair shop on Route 66, a strip bar,[3] along with a gas station/convenience store and a motel at the I-40 interchange." text Source: (
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