Battle of Round Mountains

Here between the landmark known as Round Mountains to the south and a camp on Salt Cree three miles to the northwest was fought the first battle of the Civil War in Oklahoma.

When the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory joined the Confederacy. A numerous group of fullblood Creeks under Oputhleyohola remained loyal to the Union. With wagons containing their families and household goods and driving their herds of cattle and horses they circled to the west and north of their settlements hoping to effect a junction with a similar element among the Cherokees. They were pursued by the Confederate commander Colonel Douglas H. Cooper of Mississippi with a contingent of Texas cavalry, six companies of Choctaw and Chickasaw mounted rifles, and Creek and Seminole units under native officers. He over took them on Nov. 19, 1861 and the battle was fought that afternoon and evening. During the night. Oputhleyohola withdrew toward a place in the Cherokee Nation northeast of Tulsa. After a second and third battle in that vicinity the Union Indians were completely routed and fled to Kansas where they remained as refugees until they were able to enlist in the Union army and Indian expedition to recover the Indian Territory

Sponsored by the Pay County Historical Society

December 1955