Oklahoma -- Witchita Mountain Area

Hey Gold Adventurers...

Well, not all states are as blessed with big and easy gold like Kalifornia, Oregon, Arizona & Alaska..........but, that doesn't mean they don't have SOME gold to be found...

Some years back, when I was TDY to Altus AFB, Oklahoma, for one of my C-17A upgrade training classes, I took a weekend day and my backpack with a gold pan, gloves, hand tools and drove around the Altus and Lawton areas prospecting for gold.

One on-line source offers the following info:

"Sooner State GOLD: http://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/okgoprpatr.html

Since Coronado's explorations for the Seven Cities of Cibola in the 1500s, gold has been sought after in Oklahoma. The Wichita mountains in SW Oklahoma are filled with tales of lost treasure and small fortunes being made. Even in the 1700s, Mexican miners, following earlier explorer's footsteps, still traveled from Santa Fe to mine an area known as Devil's Canyon next to Soldier's Peak. During the height of the Indian Wars in the 1870s, cavalry troopers from Fort Sill had more problems with illegal miners trying to get in to the state than they probably ever did with Native Americans fighting just to keep their land.

Placer gold can still be found in numerous creeks in Comanche, Greer, Jackson, Kiowa, and Tillman Counties. Here are some of the better known locations: Headwaters of Otter Creek (Tillman and Jackson Counties) North Fork of the Red River (Greer and Jackson Counties) Middle Otter Creek (4 mi SE of Roosevelt in Kiowa County) RELICS, COINS, & JEWELRY."

I had a great day out driving & hiking around. I mostly panned up just black sand and some lead birdshot, but did find a few micro specks of gold in a small creek that flowed under the county road near Lawton, Northwest of Ft. Sill, out in the middle of nowhere...

So, no bonanza to be sure, but I didn't get skunked!

Hopefully you'll get out, create a "Gold Adventures" memory, post us a Trip Report & pics here on the Forum...

Randy "C-17A"

Good trip report Randy! ive also like most people in mining have read those stories and dreamed............ the trouble with them is that , unless you live there / or somewhat close by and put the time in to really research the story and have a lot of "boot" time in searching ...........BUT the dream still lives on regaurdless!

Russ,

We obviously need Mike Pung from Oklahoma or my prospecting buddy John from Oklahoma to chime in here, give us some crazy gold hunting Trip Reports from Oklahoma here in this thread/Forum.

Sure not much activity for Mid-West Gold States.

We need MORE traffic, ya think??? Ha.

Randy C-17A

YUP!