Most of the 600-mile shoreline of Lake Eufaula lies within the boundaries of the old Creek Nation, with part of the southern portion in the old Choctaw Nation. Many of the reminders of the colorful history of this area - Indian life, outlaw gangs, and Civil War battles - remain for visitors to see. The Battle of Honey Springs, the largest and most important of the battles fought during the Civil War in Oklahoma, took place July 17, 1863, on a site about 3 1/2 miles northeast of Checotah, Oklahoma. The battleground is presently owned by the Oklahoma Historical Society. 

The lake waters nestle across the old Texas Road over which, in the 1830s, more than a thousand covered wagons rolled in each week as settlers moved from the east into Texas. The much-used trade route was the forerunner of the present-day U.S. 69. When the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad - the Katy - built the first rail lines southward across Indian Territory in 1872, it also followed the route of the Texas Road. 

Eufaula, the county seat of McIntosh County and former Record Town for Recording District No. 12, Indian Territory, was named after one of the historic Creek Indian villages in the Creeks’ old homeland in Alabama. Just a half mile east of Eufaula was the site of North Fork Town, settled by the Creeks shortly after their arrival in this area in 1836. The Texas Road and a branch of the California Road crossed at North Fork Town, making it a center of traffic. This important tribal community was the scene of the treaty making between the Confederates and the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws in 1861. It is now inundated by the waters of Eufaula Lake. 

Vacationers in the area can treat themselves to a historical feast if they visit the Creek Indian Council House and Museum which stands in the middle of the square in downtown Okmulgee. Exhibits include Indian murals and paintings, artifacts, and pioneer history and archaeology. Near the north end of Eufaula Dam was the home of Belle Starr, fabled woman outlaw of early Indian territorial days. Here was the hideout of her gang, and at times of the Youngers and Jessie and Frank James. 

Northeast of Eufaula is the site of Asbury Mission, a boarding school established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1849 with the Creek Council. The original buildings burned in 1889 and were rebuilt by the Creeks in 1892. The Indian Journal, located at Eufaula, is the oldest surviving newspaper in Oklahoma. It was founded in Muskogee in 1876. It was once edited by Alexander Posey, the famous Creek poet and statesman. 

One of the most famous landmarks of the area has vanished beneath the waters of Lake Eufaula. Standing Rock, which stood 63 feet above the waters of the Canadian River five miles east of Eufaula, was noted as a fishing spot by early-day settlers. Standing Rock was first recorded on papers of early day Spanish explorers. Spanish symbols carved on the rock were believed by some to have pointed to the location of buried treasure. The rock also was mentioned in notes of Captain Bonneville, who led an expedition there from Fort Gibson, in 1830. 

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT  

The Lake Eufaula area was booming on the eve of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s visit to dedicate the Eufaula Dam, the Daily Oklahoman reported in its Friday, Sept. 25, 1964 edition.

Johnson’s 20- minute speech was scheduled for 2:40 p.m.  It was estimated that 50,000 people attended the event and more than 75 Washington newspaper correspondents were scheduled to get a look at one of Oklahoma’s most scenic areas and cover the event.

Dignitaries sitting on the platform with Johnson included Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon, U.S. Rep. Ed Edmonson, and Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Dr. Charles Mitchell, a Checotah physician and president of the Eufaula Lake Development Association was quoted as saying, “There aren’t enough hours in the day to handle all the activities connected with his practice and organizing the dedication of the Dam.” —McIntosh County Democrat, 1964

Articles during that time described it as the “beginning of a new era in East Central Oklahoma.”

Dozens of schools and people from all over the state came to witness the event. 

The dam was a $150 million component of the $1.2 billion Arkansas River multipurpose plan. Impoundment of the reservoir meant relocating portions of U.S. 69 and Interstate 40. For many, it meant relocating families whose homes and farms would be covered by the lake.

“There were those who, by necessity, had to give up land in order to have the lake, but the difference between having and not having it….we’re better off today than we were then,” said Glen Pittman in the original article. Pittman was a 21-year city councilman and World War II Navy veteran.

It was a great event in its time and put this area on the map thanks to the national television media that night on Sept. 25.

Today, 50 years later,  Lake Eufaula is home to the state’s largest lake and sports over 600 miles of shoreline for visitors to enjoy. Lake Eufaula continues to be a place where people come from near and far and has become an Oklahoma vacation destination.