Ferguson House, Wichita Mountains, OK - Cobblestone Buildings on Waymarking.com

Quoted from the NRHP:
Before Europeans reached the territory which is now Oklahoma, the Wichita people inhabited the area containing the Wichita Mountains. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Kiowa and Comanche tribes were moved to a reservation in this same area. As it became evident that the frontier was closing, white settlers increased their demands for the opening of Indian lands. This portion of the Wichita Mountains was not broken up for settlement; however, as the leases of the grazing Land to Texas cattlemen prevented this.
At the turn of the century the efforts of the Oklahoma City Commercial Club, with its many influential civic leaders, persuaded the Oklahoma congressional delegation to support conservation endeavors for the Wichita Mountains. The area was proclaimed the Wichita Forest Reserve in 1901, and a National Game Preserve in 1905.
Rancher Ben Ferguson was compelled by the Army in 1926 to give up his land and home and relocate his family to a new house he built 3/4 of a mile northwest of his original location. This house, located on Highway 49 and adjacent to the National Game Preserve, was constructed with the assistance of a carpenter named Sam Reimer from nearby Medicine Park. The building was completed in 1927 along with a workshop, filling station and storage building.
The family lived in this building till 1942 when emergency war time legislation resulted in Fort Sill taking the property to extend the artillery range. After the war, in a land "swap", the property passed from the military to the Fish and Wildlife Department.
The architecture of the Ferguson House is a style popular in this region at the time of its construction. The Fergusons used the materials that were available from their land for the construction of their buildings. The Ferguson House is also a symbol of the ranching industry which has been so instrumental in the development of Oklahoma.
Although the Wichita Mountain Area was designated a Forest Reserve in 1901 and a National Game Preserve in 1905, ranchers continued to retain the right to graze cattle on Reserve land. Fees were required for each head allowed on the pastures. Ben Ferguson was one of the ranchers who took advantage of this concession to cattlemen and ran cattle on the Reserve until the grazing rights were ended in 1937.
As a result of these activities, Ferguson's house stands as a monument to the cattlemen who once grazed thousands of cows on the Wichita National Game Preserve.

City, Town, Village Name: Medicne Park, OK Building Usage: Vacant Public or Private: Public Tours Available?: no Architectural style: Not listed Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   11/23/2018 The Snowdog visited it 11/21/2015 TheRadcliffs visited it

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