Download Most of us have heard of the Spiro Mounds where prehistoric

Most of us have heard of the Spiro Mounds where prehistoric peoples
established temples and burial mounds along the Arkansas, downstream in
Leflore County. But few have heard or seen evidence by local historian, Robert
DeMoss which indicates those same people moved up the Arkansas and
established several ceremonial / sun worship mounds just a few miles west of Hill
‘N Dale.
Later, in 1542, European explorer, H. DeSoto came past here while going up the
Arkansas on his way to Kansas and Colorado. In 1719, De La Harpe, a French
explorer established contact with the early Wichita Indians in this locality.
Zebulon Pike explored through this area in 1806 for the purpose to open these
lands and befriend local Indians, the Osage, along where the Arkansas,
Cimarron, verdigris and Grand Rivers forked. And the, early settlement of the
west found Washington Irving and supporting troops, camping in 1832 in this
immediate area on the Arkansas where he produced his book A Town of the
Prairies.
Beautiful san stone rock formations are found throughout Hill ‘N Dale. The picnic
area, extending from the tennis courts out to the highway, contains huge rock
formations. In one place is a large slab “picnic table” with matching sandstone
benches. The area also has a massive cliff that outlines a spring creek which
was a landmark for early day Indians and pioneers. On one spot, near the spring,
are rock carvings by pioneers (see accompanying photos), we presume, wagon
training trough the area.
Hopefully, these photos will be clear enough to show some of these carvings. It
looks like someone named F.E. Brown came through here and carved his name.
Another time, some pioneers carved a Bible and added, “God Bless Our Home.”
As brush and timber shifts along this cliff rock, more carvings may be found.
Our sandstone rocks seem to be loaded with beautiful fossils. Many a pleasant
hour can be spent exploring for fossils along the Bear Creek water line bordering
Hill ‘N Dale. You just know the next rock you turn over will reveal some
prehistoric “creature.”
The probable reason Hill ‘N Dale still appears to have remoteness, s due to these
grounds being a working ranch until it was subdivided in the mid 1960’s. Today,
the entire southwest corner of our area is open and not subdivided – ready for
your exploration. The entire west border of Hill ‘N Dale is joined by wooded land.
The north and northeast sides are bordered by “government lake” lands which
are owned by the government and will always be open for public use. And then,
of course, these wooded lands open out on the waters of Bear Creek and Lake
Keystone.
This natural wooded setting makes Hill ‘N Dale an exceptional wildlife habitat.
We might just be the only residential area anywhere with more rabbits, squirrels
and deer than dogs and cats and/or people (see our section on “Wildlife in Hill ‘N
Dale” for more information and pictures.)
Possibly the most exciting and historical event that occurred in and around Hill ‘N
Dale was the civil war Battle of Round Mountain. While historians from Yale and
Mannford disagree, Robert DeMoss, an experienced and studied Oklahoma
historian has documented with great detail, the proof that the “Round Mountain”
referenced and described in the civil war battle of that name is actually the hill we
all drive over each day as we come and go out of Hill ‘N Dale.
The people from Yale actually have battle reenactments each year and the
people from Mannford have placed a historical marker along Highway 51 to
indicate where they hoe the battle was. In the meantime, Robert DeMoss has
written numerous volumes documenting the entire Civil War battle, along with the
events leading up to and following it.
Now, if you don’t already know, the Battle of Round Mountain was fought in
February, 1861, when some 1400 Confederate troops, up from Texas and
commanded by Colonel Douglas Cooper tried to cut off and stop a group of
Creek Indians and their families, led by Chief Yahola. The Creeks were
supported / escorted by Union troops. Yahola and his forces were trying to leave
the Confederate controlled lands from around Bristow and South by moving
through this area to escape into Union held Kansas. Actual written accounts of
the battle tie troop movements and actions to the river, Bear Creek and our hill.
Evidently the Confederate troops were expecting the job to be a round up of
evacuating squaws and were completely surprised and out maneuvered by Chief
Yaloha’s Creek warriors. The southerners managed to maintain control of this
area through the remainder of the Civil War, but the Creek’s exodus to Kansas
was not restrained at the Battle of Round Mountain.