Rio Grande Ranch Headquarters Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rio Grande Ranch Headquarters Historic District
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 Location in Oklahoma
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Okay, Oklahoma |
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| Built | 1909 |
| Architectural style | Prairie School |
| NRHP reference No. | 92001191 |
| Added to NRHP | September 9, 1992 |
The Rio Grande Ranch Headquarters Historic District is a special old ranch in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. It's also known as Three Forks Ranch. You can find it about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Okay. This ranch became a National Historic Place on September 9, 1992. This means it's an important historical site. Its most important period was from 1910 to 1935.
The historic area covers 40 acres (16 hectares) of land. It has 15 important features, like buildings. Most of these features help tell the ranch's history. The main ranch house was built in the Prairie School style. It was made from sandstone dug from a local quarry. The ranch also has an old smokehouse and a spring house.
Contents
History of the Rio Grande Ranch
Early Days and Dr. Daily
In May 1908, a new law allowed non-Cherokee people to buy land from the Cherokee Nation. Before this, they could only rent it. In August 1908, a doctor named Charles E. Daily bought 50 acres (20 hectares) in what is now Wagoner County, Oklahoma. This land became the main part of the Rio Grande Ranch. Dr. Daily kept buying more land. By the end of 1908, he owned 285 acres (115 hectares).
In 1910, Dr. Daily started his own herd of shorthorn cattle. He bought them from his father's ranch in Indiana. The cattle did very well in their new home. But in 1915, Dr. Daily's father passed away. Dr. Daily decided to sell his Oklahoma ranch and move back to Indiana.
Frank Gillespie's Time
Frank A. Gillespie, an oilman from Tulsa, bought the ranch in November 1915. He was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Tulsa in 1904. He was very successful in the oil business. His favorite hobby was raising purebred shorthorn cattle. He already owned several other big ranches in Oklahoma.
Gillespie quickly worked to make the Rio Grande Ranch bigger. He also grew its cattle herd. In 1916, he built a huge concrete barn. It was 16,000 square feet (1,486 square meters) and used for showing his cattle. In 1917, he bought more land near the Grand River. Gillespie sold the ranch to Clinton R. Strong on February 11, 1918.
Changes in Ownership
Clinton R. Strong continued to raise shorthorn cattle. However, he didn't seem to make any other improvements to the ranch. Just one year after buying it, he traded the ranch for some railroad stock.
By 1920, the ranch was owned by James W. Maney. He was a railroad contractor from Oklahoma City. James's son, Robert Maney, actually lived in the main house, called "Rock House," from 1920 to 1921. He managed the ranch with three ranch hands. James Maney also started two other businesses on the property. One was an oil well that produced oil. The other was a gravel business on the Grand River. But raising cattle still brought in the most money. In 1920, the ranch held a sale of shorthorn cattle in Tulsa. They sold for an average of $395 per animal, which was a good price back then.
James Maney sold the ranch in 1935 to the Yeoman Life Insurance Company. This marked the end of the ranch's important role in raising purebred shorthorn cattle.
Buildings at the Ranch
The "Rock Manor" Ranch House
The main house, called "Rock Manor" or "Rock House," was one of the first buildings. It was built between 1909 and 1910. It is a one-story house about 3,500 square feet (325 square meters) in size. Its walls are covered with sandstone from the ranch's own quarry.
The house is built in the Prairie School style. The stone at the bottom of the walls is darker. It gets lighter as the walls go up towards the roof. The roof is low and covered with asphalt shingles. It has two dormer windows facing the front. Each dormer has white wooden walls and two windows. The roof has wide overhangs. There are three brick chimneys on the roof. One is for the living room fireplace. The other two are for wood stoves in the kitchen, dining room, and two bedrooms.
A porch stretches across the front of the house and wraps around one side. It has a concrete floor and steps. The steps have short stone walls with concrete tops. These walls are decorated with concrete horse heads. Stone columns hold up the porch roof. The porch ceiling is made of white wood. Metal pipes connect the columns and act as the porch railing.
The windows are made of wood and come in different sizes. They were likely made right at the ranch to fit each opening. The main front door is very large. It has one glass pane and a window above it called a transom. Other outside doors are wooden with panels and also have transoms. These transoms could be opened to let air flow through the house and keep it cool in summer.
Inside the house, a large stone fireplace is the main feature in the living room. It's made of the same quarried sandstone. The living room floor is concrete, which helped protect the house from sparks from the fireplace. All other rooms have wooden floors. The ceilings in all rooms are 12 feet (3.7 meters) high. Many rooms have picture molding for decoration. All inside doors have transoms to help with air circulation. They also have solid brass handles. There are two wooden built-in cabinets: a gun cabinet in the sitting room and a china cabinet in the dining room. The ceilings and inside walls are covered with plaster.
Other Important Buildings
Three other buildings are near the main house in the 1.1-acre (0.45-hectare) yard. The spring house and root cellar are southwest of the main house. The smokehouse is northeast. A stone wall surrounds the yard. All three buildings have thick, 2-foot (0.61-meter) sandstone walls. They also have sloped concrete roofs that are 4 inches (10 cm) thick.
- The smokehouse is 13 feet (4.0 meters) by 17 feet (5.2 meters). It was used to store fresh meat and to smoke meat and fish.
- The root cellar is 14 feet (4.3 meters) by 24 feet (7.3 meters). It was used to store fruits and vegetables in a cool place during hot summers. It also served as a storm shelter during tornados.
- The spring house is 14 feet (4.3 meters) by 26 feet (7.9 meters). It provided drinking water from a cold spring. It was also a place to store foods like eggs and milk that needed to stay cool.
Other Ranch Features
Cistern-Well and Windmill
The ranch had an original cistern-well. It was dug by hand and lined with rocks. This well provided all the water for the house, except for drinking water. Rainwater flowed into the cistern. Well water was also pumped into an overhead tank by a windmill. The windmill also provided enough water pressure for the kitchen and bathrooms. The overhead tank is no longer there. But the cistern-well now supplies water for the yard and nearby land.
Septic System
A septic system was put in when the Rock House was first built. This system was still working well when the ranch was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.
Concrete Barn
The concrete barn is a large, rectangular building about 14,000 square feet (1,300 square meters). It has two concrete silos at its north end. The stalls inside were originally made of metal pipes. The system for feeding cattle from above is still there. The barn has a gabled roof covered with brown shingles. A hayloft is in the center of the roof. It has its own small roof and open eaves. The barn has 26 windows. The original wooden windows have been replaced with aluminum ones, painted to look like the old ones. There are large doors for vehicles on the north, east, and west sides. Cattle doors are on the south side. There are also shed roofs along the outside east and west walls. These sheds, supported by wooden posts, provided shade and shelter for the animals.
