About
CARR MUseum
About
Katy Depot Museum and Visitors Center
About Checotah OK
Checotah is a town in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for Samuel Checote, the first chief of the Creek Nation elected after the Civil War.[4] Its population was 3,481 at the 2000 census. According to Census 2010, the population has decreased to 3,335; a 4.19% loss.[5]
Checotah is home to numerous antique malls, a Civil War battle site, and a downtown historic district. Checotah claims to be the steer wrestling capital of the world.[6] Early boosters called Checotah "The Gem of the Prairie".[7]
History
The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (also known as the MKT or Katy) established a railhead on the old Texas Road in 1872 that became the site of present-day Checotah. Although it was named Checote Switch for Samuel Checote, a later mapmaker spelled the name as Checotah. The town was chartered by the Creek Nation in 1893. The Dawes Commission held its first meeting here.[7]
Between 1907 and 1909, the people of Checotah were involved in a dispute with nearby Eufaula known as the McIntosh County Seat War. After Checotah was designated as the new county seat, the people of Eufaula refused to hand over the county records. Soon after, a group of heavily armed men from Chectotah attempted to seize the records from the courthouse in Eufaula, but were beaten back and forced to surrender during the gunfight that followed. Eufaula was designated as the permanent seat of McIntosh County one year later.[8]
Checotah was on the route of the Jefferson Highway established in 1915, with that road running more than 2,300 miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba to New Orleans, Louisiana.[9]
About KAty Museum
Because the M-K-T built a line south through Indian Territory in 1872, Checotah was born. That first tiny Depot housed a telegraph office and the town's original Post Office and soon, it became a major shipping point for cattle and agricultural produce.
This Katy Depot was ............
- built in 1890
- last used for passenger service in June, 1965
- placed on the Oklahoma landmark inventory in 1980
- and more interesting facts about its Railroad Beginnings can be found in the Museum
Some of the Depot Exhibits are ..............
- M-K-T Railroad
- Cowboys
- Indians
- Pioneers
- Paul Henry Carr Monument (1924-1944)
- Scale model of USS CARR (FFG-52) (commissioned guided missile frigate)
Paul Henry Carr Exhibit
Paul Henry Carr was born on 13 February 1924, at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma and moved to Checotah, Oklahoma early in his childhood. After joining the Navy on 27 May 1942, he received orders to join the USS Samuel B. Roberts in April 1944. During the Battle off Samar, on 25 October 1944, Gunners Mate Third Class Carr served as gun captain of the aft gun, Mount 52. After firing approximately 300 rounds, Mount 52 lost power. After managing to fire several more shots from the overheated gun, a round suddenly cooked off, blowing the gun apart and killing several of the crew. Although grievously wounded, he remained at his station, repeatedly attempting to load the last remaining shell into the destroyed gun by hand. With the battle still raging around him, Carr died of his wounds shortly before Samuel B. Roberts sank due to Imperial Japanese Navy shellfire. Carr was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
Carrie Underwood Exhibit
American Idol winner Carrie Underwood wrote a song on her album Some Hearts called "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore". It includes references to the local high-school team (Wildcats), Highways 69 and 40, the Okra Fest (no longer held),[11] and Eufaula Lake.Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983)[1] is an American singer who rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), produced the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
Early life
Carrie Marie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983,[2][3] in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Carole (née Shatswell) and Steve Underwood.[4] She has two older sisters, Shanna and Stephanie,[5] and was raised on her parents' farm in the nearby rural town of Checotah.[6] Her father worked in a paper mill while her mother taught elementary school.[7] During her childhood, Underwood performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show, and sang at her local church, First Free Will Baptist Church.[8] She later sang for local events in Checotah, including Old Settler's Day and the Lions Club.[9]
